The copolymerization of ethylene/6-furyl-1-hexene (FH) was conducted with Ziegler-Natta and metallocene (
rac
-Et(Ind)
2
ZrCl
2
) catalysis respectively to synthesize polyethylenes with furyl-pendent group. Cross-linked polyethylenes were then prepared via Diels-Alder reaction by adding 1
6-bismaleimidohexane (BMH) as cross-linking agent into the ethylene/FH copolymer. The copolymers structure was characterized by
1
H-NMR and DSC. The cross-linked polyethylene structure and properties were measured by FTIR
creep and tensile tests. The results showed that the crosslinking degree of polyethylene could be adjusted by changing the ratio of maleimide to furan
and thermal reversibility of Diels-Alder reaction endowed cross-linked polyethylenes with reprocessability.