Kinetic and Thermal Study of Ethylene and Propylene Homo Polymerization Catalyzed by ansa-Zirconocene Activated with Alkylaluminum/Borate: Effects of Alkylaluminum on Polymerization Kinetics and Polymer Structure

The kinetics of ethylene and propylene polymerization catalyzed by homogeneous metallocene were investigated using 2-thiophenecarbonyl chloride followed by quenched-flow methods. The studied metallocene catalysts are: rac-Me2Si(2-Me-4-Ph-Ind)2ZrCl2 (Mt-I), rac-Et(Ind)2ZrCl2 (Mt-II) activated with ([Me2NPh][B(C6F5)4] (Borate-I), [Ph3C][B(C6F5)4] (Borate-II), and were co-catalyzed with different molar ratios of alkylaluminum such as triethylaluminium (TEA) and triisobutylaluminium (TIBA). The change in molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, microstructure and thermal properties of the synthesized polymer are discussed in detail. Interestingly, both Mt-I and Mt-II showed high activity in polyethylene with productivities between 3.17 × 106 g/molMt·h to 5.06 × 106 g/molMt·h, activities were very close to each other with 100% TIBA, but Mt-II/borate-II became more active when TEA was more than 50% in cocatalyst. Similarly, Polypropylene showed the highest activity of 11.07 106 g /molMt·h with Mt-I/Borate-I/TIBA. The effects of alkylaluminum on PE molecular weight were much more complicated; MWD curve changed from mono-modal in Mt-I/borate-I/TIBA to bimodal type when TIBA was replaced by different amounts of TEA. In PE, the active center fractions [C*]/[Zr] of Mt-I/borate were higher than that of Mt-II/borate and average chain propagation rate constant (kp) value slightly decreased with the increase of TEA/TIBA ratio, but the Mt-II/borate systems showed higher kp 1007 kp (L/mol·s). In PP, the Mt-I/borate presented much higher [C*]/[Zr] and kp value than the Mt-II. This work also extend to investigate the mechanistic features of zirconocenes catalyzed olefin polymerizations that addressed the largely unknown issues in zirconocenes in the distribution of the catalyst, between species involved in polymer chain growth and dormant state. In both metallocene systems, chain transfer with alkylaluminum is the dominant way of chain termination. To understand the mechanism of cocatalyst effects on PE Mw and (MWD), the unsaturated chain ends formed via β-H transfer have been investigated by 1H NMR analysis.

Simultaneous polymer chain growth with the coexistence of bulk and surface initiators: insight from computer simulations

By Brownian dynamics simulations we study the simultaneous polymer chain growth process with the coexistence of bulk and surface initiators.

Quantitatively monitoring polymer chain growth and topology formation based on monodisperse polymers

In this work, a novel technique for monitoring polymer chain growth and topology formation was demonstrated by precision synthesis of monodisperse polymers, which opened a novel avenue for obtaining real-time polymer structure information.

Alternating Ring-Opening Copolymerization of Cyclohexene Oxide and Maleic Anhydride with Diallyl-Modified Manganese(III)–Salen Catalysts

A series of diallyl-modified (salen)MnIII complexes have been designed, synthesized, and applied in the cyclohexene oxide and maleic anhydride ring-opening copolymerization. The experimental results show that these complexes are effective in the presence of co-catalyst 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP). Of all the five catalysts, the catalyst (salcyen)MnCl (salcyen = 2-((E)-(2-((E)-5-allyl-2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)cyclohexylimino)methyl)-4-allyl-6-methoxyphenol) exhibited the best catalytic performance under the conditions applied, and the cyclohexane of diimine bridge is conjugated with the two diallyl-salen-type moieties. This conjugation can increase the electron density of the centre MnIII cation so that catalyst (salcyen)MnCl favours the formation of reaction intermediates. Moreover, the anion effect of Cl– is proved to be the best in the catalytic performances. Among the three co-catalysts (DMAP, triphenylphosphine (Ph3P), and tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (n-Bu4NBr)) tested, DMAP is the most efficient towards monomer conversion and polymer chain growth.

Non-Markovian models of the growth of a polymer chain

Using simple exactly solvable models, we show that event-dependent time delays may lead to significant non-Poisson effects in the statistics of polymer chain growth. The results are confirmed by stochastic simulation of various growth scenarios. Our interest in mathematical aspects of non-Markovian growth arises from recent successful application of delayed probability density functions in stochastic modelling of controlled radical polymerization.

Self-organization of polyaniline during oxidative polymerization: formation of granular structure

The paper is focused on oxidative polymerization of aniline proceeding in an acid medium with a strong oxidant; formation of polyaniline (PANI) granular structures in different steps of the synthesis was studied. The relationship between the processes of self-organization of the growing polymer into supramolecular structures and the steps of molecular synthesis has been revealed. It was shown that during the induction period (the initial synthesis step), insoluble non-conducting products are formed. They are characterized by the absorption band at 430 nm corresponding to the wavelength of the phenazinium cation radical peak. In the second step, the polymer chain growth, conducting PANI granules with the diameter of 50 nm were obtained. These granules consist of spherical particles with the diameter as small as several nanometers. Then, the granule dimensions increased to 200 nm due to the growth of the spheres; the sphere diameter reached 20 nm. The number of spheres in a granule remained constant. Both precipitate and PANI film consist of common structural elements, polymer spheres, organized into granules and larger structures. Suppression of the polymer chain growth leads to the formation of non-conducting aniline oligomers which are self-organized into large particles with fractal structure. To describe the self-organization processes of a growing polymer chain, the diffusion-limited aggregation mechanism was used.