Polymerisation Ziegler processes

As a result of the work of Ziegler in Germany, Natta in Italy and Pease and Roedel in the United States, the process of co-ordination polymerisation, a process related to ionic polymerisation, became of significance in the late 1950s. This process is today used in the commercial manufacture of polypropylene and polyethylene and has also been used in the laboratory for the manufacture of many novel polymers. In principle the catalyst system used governs the way in which a monomer and a growing chain approach each other and because of this it is possible to produce stereoregular polymers. 

Catalysts vary according to the process of polymerisation, e.g. in the polymerisation of PE by the Ziegler process, triethyl aluminium and titanium tetrachloride are used. Certain polymers may contain peroxide residues from the use of benzoyl... 

Traditionally, PE has tended to be classed as low, medium, or high density. These sub-divisions have never been precisely defined. High-pressure polymerisation of ethylene takes place by a free radical process, medium-pressure polymerisation occurs in the presence of molybdenum oxide or chromium oxide (Phillips process), while for low- and medium-pressure polymerisation transition metal halide and alkylaluminium compounds (Ziegler process) are used. Some properties of PE obtained from various ethylene processes are presented in Figure 1.2. 

A weU-known feature of olefin polymerisation with Ziegler-Natta catalysts is the repHcation phenomenon ia which the growing polymer particle mimics the shape of the catalyst (101). This phenomenon allows morphological control of the polymer particle, particularly sise, shape, sise distribution, and compactness, which greatiy influences the polymerisation processes (102). In one example, the polymer particle has the same spherical shape as the catalyst particle, but with a diameter approximately 40 times larger (96). 

As indicated by the title, these processes are largely due to the work of Ziegler and coworkers. The type of polymerisation involved is sometimes referred to as co-ordination polymerisation since the mechanism involves a catalyst-monomer co-ordination complex or some other directing force that controls the way in which the monomer approaches the growing chain. The co-ordination catalysts are generally formed by the interaction of the alkyls of Groups I-III metals with halides and other derivatives of transition metals in Groups IV-VIII of the Periodic Table. In a typical process the catalyst is prepared from titanium tetrachloride and aluminium triethyl or some related material. 

Attempts to produce coplymers of ethylene and styrene by free radical and by conventional Ziegler-Natta catalysts systems have, over the years, not proved successful. However, in 1998 Dow announced novel polymers using a metallocene process with the intention of commercial polymerisation using a 23 000t.p.a. capacity plant starting in 1999. 

With the exception of LDPE, polyolefins like other polyethylenes and polypropylene, which represent the largest amount of vinyl-type polymers produced in the world, are neither synthesized by radical nor by classical ionic polymerisation processes. Different types of polymerisation catalysts are in use for these purposes. The Cr-based Phillips catalyst, Ziegler-Natta type catalysts, metallocene or other more recently discovered catalysts, including late transition metal catalysts, are all characterized by their propagation step where the olefin monomer inserts into a carbon-transition metal link. ... 

Figure 28 Hydrogen transfer reaction in propylene polymerisation by the Ziegler-Natta process.

C. Usually the polymerisation is carried out in the presence of Ziegler-Natta catalysts based on titanium tetrachloride and aluminium alkyl. The catalyst may be either prepared or formed in the reactor. Usually, the polymerisation is carried out in presence of a hydrocarbon solvent. The polymer is insoluble in the solvent. The reaction is terminated by addition of an alcohol and catalyst extracted with alcoholic hydrochloric acid. Catalyst removal is important for electrical insolution used. The Polymer chain obtained by this process is essentially linear. 

The three phases that are present in the Ziegler-Natta polymerisation are (i) the monomer (ii) the solvent and (iii) the catalyst. Reactions take place at certain points on the surface of catalyst particles. The polymer molecule grows as the monomer units join the chain where earlier monomer is attached to the catalyst particle. The precise nature of the action of catalyst is not yet known. However, the first step in the polymerisation process proposed is the formation of a monomer-catalyst complex between the organometallic compound and the monomer. 

Cyclopentadienyl compounds (i.e. metallocenes) (Fig. 5), which have at least one direct metal-carbon bond to the C5H5 ligand, were first synthesised in the 1950s [79,80]. Since then, reactions of cyclopentadienyl reagents have been applied for almost every element [123]. The main application of metallocenes is their use as catalysts in the polymerisation of olefins by Ziegler-Natta polymerisation processes. As many metallocene compounds are volatile and thermally stable, they are also suitable for use as precursors in MOCVD [124-127]. Although cyclopentadienyl compounds have attracted considerable interest as precursors in CVD depositions they are sometimes too reactive [128]. However, high reactivity and thermal stability make cy-... 

In all the low pressure PE processes the polymer is formed through coordination polymerisation. Three basic catalyst types are used chromium oxide, Ziegler-Natta and single-site catalysts. The catalyst type together with the process defines the basic structure and properties of the polyethylene produced. Apart from the MWD and comonomer distribution that a certain catalyst produces in polymerisation in one reactor, two or more cascaded reactors with different polymerisation conditions increase the freedom to tailor... 

It may be of interest that isotactic polystyrene formed by styrene polymerisation with Ziegler Natta catalysts [13] did not appear to be a polymer that could exhibit significantly better usable properties compared with atactic polystyrene produced in free radical styrene polymerisation processes. 

The type of solvent or diluent should be specified in reporting a Ziegler-Natta catalyst system. Alkene polymerisations are usually carried out in inert solvents, such as aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. some gasoline fractions or toluene). The use of protic or aprotic polar solvents or diluents instead of the hydrocarbon polymerisation medium can drastically alter the reaction mechanism. This usually results in catalyst deactivation for alkene coordination polymerisation. Modern alkene polymerisation processes are carried out in a gas phase, using fluidised-bed catalysts, and in a liquid monomer as in the case of propylene polymerisation [28,37]. 

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