And metallocenes

Molecular Weight Distribution. In industry, the MWD of PE resins is often represented by the value of the melt flow ratio (MER) as defined in Table 2. The MER value of PE is primarilly a function of catalyst type. Phillips catalysts produce PE resins with a broad MWD and their MER usually exceeds 100 Ziegler catalysts provide resins with a MWD of a medium width (MFR = 25-50) and metallocene catalysts produce PE resins with a narrow MWD (MFR = 15-25). IfPE resins with especially broad molecular weight distributions are needed, they can be produced either by using special mixed catalysts or in a series of coimected polymerization reactors operating under different reaction conditions. 

HDPE resias are produced ia industry with several classes of catalysts, ie, catalysts based on chromium oxides (Phillips), catalysts utilising organochromium compounds, catalysts based on titanium or vanadium compounds (Ziegler), and metallocene catalysts (33—35). A large number of additional catalysts have been developed by utilising transition metals such as scandium, cobalt, nickel, niobium, molybdenum, tungsten, palladium, rhodium, mthenium, lanthanides, and actinides (33—35) none of these, however, are commercially significant. 

EPR and EPDM have been made by either solution or emulsion polymerization processes. More recently a new process involving gas-phase polymerization and metallocene catalysts promises to capture large shares of these markets. These new polymers will be especially attractive in automotive apphcations and wine and cable where theh favorable pricing should be welcome. 

Olefin Polymerization. Titanates having a carbon—titanium bond are extensively kivolved ki Ziegler-Natta and metallocene polymerization of... 

Processes for Making Linear Low-density Polyethylene and Metallocene Polyethylene... 

Transition metal polymerization catalysts have stimulated tremendous efforts in academic research resulting in numerous industrial applications. Ziegler-Natta and metallocene catalysts have been used for the synthesis of tailor-... 

Catalysts which bring about a spatially regular (stereoregular) configuration in high polymers. The main types are Ziegler, Phillips, Standard Oil and Metallocene Stereospecific Polymers... 

Brookhart and coworkers [1] have recently developed Ni(II) and Pd(II) bis-imine based catalysts of the type (ArN=C(R)-C(R)=NAr)M-CH3+ (la of Figure 1) that are promising alternatives to both Ziegler-Natta systems and metallocene catalysts for olefin polymerization. Traditionally, such late metal catalysts are found to produce dimers or extremely low molecular weight oligomers due to the favorability of the P-elimination chain termination process [2],... 

The annual production of various polymers can be measured only in billion tons of which polyolefins alone figure around 100 million tons per year. In addition to radical and ionic polymerization, a large part of this huge amount is manufactured by coordination polymerization technology. The most important Ziegler-Natta, chromium- and metallocene-based catalysts, however, contain early transition metals which are too oxophiUc to be used in aqueous media. Nevertheless, with the late transition metals there is some room for coordination polymerization in aqueous systems [1,2] and the number of studies published on this topic is steadily growing. 

The polymerization of ethylene was also qualitahvely inveshgated by pulse injec-hons of ethylene into helium flowing over thorium (67) and uranium (86) metallocene hydrocarbyl complexes supported on 7-AI2O3.950 at 25 °C, both revealing similar achvihes [171, 173]. Supported thorium half-sandwich complexes 65 exhibited higher achvity than surface species, resulhng from coordinatively more saturated tris(cyclopentadienyl) and metallocene U/Th-alkyl/hydride complexes, that is, 77, 79, 82, 90 and 91 [171]. C CP MAS NMR spectra revealed no clear evidence of ethylene insertion into [Th-CHs] or [AL5-CH3] moiehes of material... 

Metalorganic Catalysts for Synthesis and Polymerization Recent Results by Ziegler-Natta and Metallocene Investigations, Ed. W. Kaminsky, Springer, Berlin 1999. 

The effect of blending LDPE with EVA or a styrene-isoprene block copolymer was investigated (178). The properties (thermal expansion coefficient. Young s modulus, thermal conductivity) of the foamed blends usually lie between the limits of the foamed constituents, although the relationship between property and blend content is not always linear. The reasons must he in the microstructure most polymer pairs are immiscible, but some such as PS/polyphenylene oxide (PPO) are miscible. Eor the immiscible blends, the majority phase tends to be continuous, but the form of the minor phase can vary. Blends of EVA and metallocene catalysed ethylene-octene copolymer have different morphologies depending on the EVA content (5). With 25% EVA, the EVA phase appears as fine spherical inclusions in the LDPE matrix. The results of these experiments on polymer films will apply to foams made from the same polymers. 

Advances in Polymer Technology 22, No.3, FaU 2003, p.209-17 BINARY BLENDS OF EVA AND METALLOCENE-CATALYZED ETHYLENE-ALPHA-OLEFIN COPOLYMERS AND THEIR... 

A review is presented of the nitrogen autoclave process for the manufacture of crosslinked polyolefin foams. Process and product developments over the last few years are summarised and future possibilities are described. Process developments include use of higher temperatures and pressures to produce foams having densities as low as 10 kg/cub.m. Product developments include foams based on HDPE/LDPE blends, propylene copolymers and metallocene-catalysed ethylene copolymers. The structure and properties of these foams are compared with those of foams produced by alternative processes. 5 refs. 

Some chiral initiators have structures such that alternate monomer placements occur with opposite faces of the monomer to yield the syndiotactic polymer. This is syndioselective polymerization proceeding with catalyst site control and is usually observed only with some homogeneous initiators, both traditional Ziegler-Natta and metallocene. 

The double-bond composition varies in a complex manner with changes in metallocene and monomer concentrations because the orders of dependence of the various P-hydride transfer reactions on monomer and metallocene are not the same [Liu et al., 2001c Zhou et al., 2001]. Vinylidene content decreases with increasing monomer concentration, but increases with increasing metallocene. The trends for vinylene content are the opposite, while trisubstituted double-bond content is relatively unaffected by monomer and metallocene concentrations. 

Traditional Ziegler-Natta and metallocene initiators polymerize a variety of monomers, including ethylene and a-olefins such as propene, 1-butene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, vinylcyclo-hexane, and styrene. 1,1-Disubstituted alkenes such as isobutylene are polymerized by some metallocene initiators, but the reaction proceeds by a cationic polymerization [Baird, 2000]. Polymerizations of styrene, 1,2-disubstituted alkenes, and alkynes are discussed in this section polymerization of 1,3-dienes is discussed in Sec. 8-10. The polymerization of polar monomers is discussed in Sec. 8-12. 

Cydoalkenes undergo facile polymerization because ring strain is relieved on polymerization. Polymerization occurs using both traditional Ziegler-Natta and metallocene initiators [Boor, 1979 Coates, 2000 DalTAsta et al., 1962 Ittel et al., 2000 Kaminsky, 2001 Natta... 

---