High density polyethylene discovery

In the mid-1950s a number of new thermoplastics with some very valuable properties beeame available. High-density polyethylenes produced by the Phillips process and the Ziegler process were marketed and these were shortly followed by the discovery and rapid exploitation of polypropylene. These polyolefins soon became large tonnage thermoplastics. Somewhat more specialised materials were the acetal resins, first introduced by Du Pont, and the polycarbonates, developed simultaneously but independently in the United States and Germany. Further developments in high-impact polystyrenes led to the development of ABS polymers. 

High-pressure polymerization of ethylene was introduced in the 1930s. The discovery of a new titanium catalyst hy Karl Ziegler in 1953 revolutionized the production of linear unhranched polyethylene at lower pressures. The two most widely used grades of polyethylene are low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Currently,... 

Commercial linear polyethylene, the most commonly used type of plastic, was bom more than half a century ago with the accidental discovery at Phillips Petroleum Company that chromium oxide supported on silica can polymerize a-olefins.1 The same catalyst system, modified and evolved, is used even today by dozens of companies throughout the world, and it accounts for a large share of the world s high-density polyethylene (HDPE) supply, as well as some low-density polymers. The catalyst is now more active and has been tailored in numerous ways for many specialized modem applications. This chapter provides a review of our understanding of the complex chemistry associated with this catalyst system, and it also provides examples of how the chemistry has been exploited commercially. It is written from an industrial perspective, drawing especially on the commercial experience and the research of numerous scientists working at Phillips Petroleum... 

DISCOVERY OF POLYPROPYLENE AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE... 

Discovery of Linear (High-Density) Polyethylene Use of Comonomers Linear Low-Density Polyethylene Stereospecific Polymerization Discovery of Polypropylene Manufacturing Processes High-Pressure LDPE Low-Pressure, Linear HOPE LLDPE... 

Karl Ziegler who shared the Nobel Prize with Giulio Natta, was a professor of chemistry at the Universities of Heidelberg and Halle before being named director of the Max Planck Institut. His interest in organometallic compounds led to the discovery of the "Ziegler catalyst" which was used to produce high density polyethylene. 

Central to the discovery and development of LLDPE has been transition-metal catalysis. However, because a given catalyst may be most useful for a different class of polyethylene or several classes, the following discussion will at times touch on other topics such as high density polyethylene (HDPE) or even pol5 ropylene. Emphasis will be given to commercialized systems. 

Other Early Developments. In addition to the breakthrough by Ziegler, two other discoveries of ethylene polymerization catalysts were made in the early 1950s. A patent by Standard Oil of Indiana, filed in 1951, disclosed reduced molybdenum oxide or cobalt molybdate on alumina (13). At the same time, Phillips discovered supported chromium oxide catalysts, prepared by impregnation of a silica-alumina support with Cr03 (14 16). Both the Phillips catalyst and titanium chloride based Ziegler catalysts are widely used in the production of high density polyethylene (HDPE). 

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