Abstract: Ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene （PE-UHMW） is a polyethylene material with a molecular weight of 1 million or more， and its molecular structure is similar to that of high-density polyethylene. It is an engineering plastic with excellent overall performance. PE-UHMW films are a new type of organic functional polymer films， which are made of PE-UHMW as a polymer matrix with fillers or through structural modification and processed to a certain thickness. PE-UHMW films are mainly divided into non-porous films and microporous films. PE-UHMW films are widely used in textile， packaging， agriculture， food， medical and lithium-ion battery separators thanks to their excellent impact resistance， low-temperature resistance， corrosion resistance and other properties. However， owing to a large molecular weight， a great number of entanglements between molecular chains， and poor flowability in the molten state， it is difficult to prepare film materials with excellent performance through conventional methods. This paper introduces the research progress， performance advantages， common preparation methods， and main applications of PE-UHMW films in recent years in terms of the structural characteristics of PE-UHMW.

Key words: ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene, film, preparation method, research progress