Polymer Bulletin, Vol.64, No.8, 749-759, 2010
Synthesis of linear low density polyethylene with a nano-sized silica supported Cp2ZrCl2/MAO catalyst
A nano-sized silica supported Cp2ZrCl2/MAO catalyst was used to catalyze the copolymerization of ethylene/1-hexene and ethylene/1-octene to produce linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) in a batch reactor. Under identical reaction conditions, the nano-sized catalyst exhibited significantly higher polymerization activity, and produced copolymer with greater molecular weight and smaller polydispersity index than a corresponding micro-sized catalyst, which was ascribed to the much lower internal diffusion resistance of the nano-sized catalyst. Copolymer density decreased with the increase of polymerization temperature, probably due to the decrease of reactivity ratio r (1) and ethylene solubility with increasing temperature. Polymerization activity of the nano-sized catalyst increased rapidly with increasing comonomer concentration. Ethylene/1-octene exhibited higher polymerization activity and had a stronger comonomer effect than ethylene/1-hexene.
Keywords:Linear low density polyethylene;Supported metallocene/MAO catalyst;Ethylene-1-hexene copolymerization;Ethylene-1-octene copolymerization;Nano silica particles