Effect of diether as internal donor on MgCl2‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst for propylene polymerization

This article demonstrates the influence of the molar ratio between diether as internal donor and Magnesium dichloride in processing of the catalyst preparation on the catalytic performance for propylene polymerization with MgCl₂‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst. The effect of electron donor on catalyst is investigated. The experimental data find that diether content on catalyst increases and Ti content on catalyst decreases with the increase of diether/Mg molar ratio. This result indicates that diether as internal donor is not coordinated to Ti species but to Mg species on catalyst. The introduction of diether remarkably improves the catalytic activity. The extents of improvement closely connect with diether/Mg molar ratio. The stereospecificity of catalyst intensively depends on the structure of diether as internal donor. The possible model of multi‐active sites on heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalyst is proposed to explain these phenomena. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1399–1404, 2006     

Effects of external Lewis base on the performance of MgCl2 supported catalysts in propylene polymerization

Summary The effects of four different external Lewis bases on propylene polymerization using the MgCl₂-supported TiCl₄ catalyst were studied in the context of the variation of the chemical complexes formed between catalyst, catalyst support and internal Lewis base, and the interactions between complexes and external Lewis base, The internal Lewis base used in this study was dioctyl phthalate. With ethyl benzoate as the external donor no change in activity was observed, but the interaction between ethyl benzoate and MgCl₂·phthaloyl chloride complex resulted in a decrease of isotacticity. Increasing the bulkiness of the external Lewis base hindered the monomer coordination. It was found that the relative amount of the phthaloyl chloride complex to other complexes played an important role in the formation of active sites.     

Temperature programmed decomposition of sillica-supported MgCl2/THF/TiCl4 catalyst and effect of thermal treatment on ethylene polymerization rate

Silica supported MgCl₂/THF/TiCl₄ catalyst (SiO₂/MgCl₂/THF/TiCl₄) was prepared, and then decomposed thermally. The amount of produced gas [tetrahydrofuran (THF) and 1,4-dichlorobutane (DCB)] was measured with gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometer. SiO₂/MgCl₂/THF/TiCl₄ catalyst started to decompose around 85‡C, and further decomposed at 113, 150 and 213‡C. THF was mainly produced, but very small amount of DCB evolved during temperature programmed decomposition (TPD), while unsupported MgCl₂THF/TiCl₄ produced DCB significantly. Polymerization rate of ethylene with SiO₂/MgCl₂/THF/TiCl₄ decreased when it was preheated at 85 and 110‡C for 5 and 60 min, respectively, while that of unsupported MgCl₂/THF/TiCl₄ increased after same pretreatment condition. It can be suggested that Mg/Ti bimetallic complex anchored on the surface of silica through OH group of it has weak interaction between Mg and Ti species.     

Surface science approach to the preparation and characterization of model Ziegler–Natta heterogeneous polymerization catalysts

Ziegler–Natta heterogeneous catalytic systems are extensively used to polymerize ethylene and propylene. Some industrial catalysts consist of TiCl₄ chemisorbed on activated MgCl₂ and subsequently reduced and alkylated by reaction with an aluminum alkyl (generally AlEt₃). Lewis bases are added to the catalytic systems to control the enantio-selectivity for the production of isotactic polypropylene. Our aim is to clarify the chemical composition of the active centers by modern surface science methods. Model catalysts are prepared in the form of ultra-thin films by gas-phase deposition on a gold foil in ultrahigh vacuum. Under these conditions, MgCl₂ films grow to controlled thickness via a layer-by-layer mechanism, as revealed by AES and XPS. TiCl₄ can be deposited on these films near room temperature by both electron irradiation-induced and metallic magnesium-induced chemical vapor deposition. Angle-resolved XPS studies indicate that these films consist of a few layers of TiCl₂ with one monolayer of TiCl₄ chemisorbed on its surface. The exposure of these titanium chloride films to the co-catalyst AlEt₃ produces an active model Ziegler–Natta catalyst. XPS analysis reveals the presence of TiCl₂Et on the catalyst surface: this is believed to be the active site. Prolonged reaction with the co-catalyst reduces the titanium sites to TiClEt_n (n = 1 and/or 2). High molecular weight polyethylene and polypropylene are synthesized on these catalysts, as shown by Raman spectroscopy. Highly isotactic polypropylene is produced without need for stereo-regulating Lewis bases. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of ZnCl2‐ and SiCl4‐doped TiCl4/MgCl2/THF catalysts for ethylene polymerization

In this research, ethylene polymerization was carried out in the presence of different additives (ZnCl₂, SiCl₄, and the combined ZnCl₂‐SiCl₄) on TiCl₄/MgCl₂/THF catalytic system. The presence of ZnCl₂‐SiCl₄ mixtures showed higher activity in ethylene polymerization when compared with the catalytic activity in the presence of single Lewis acids, ZnCl₂, or SiCl₄. The modified catalyst with ZnCl₂‐SiCl₄ demonstrated the highest activity, which was more than three times the activity of the system without Lewis acid modification. The enhanced activity can be attributed to the reduction in the peak intensity of MgCl₂/THF complexes with Lewis acid compounds as proven by XRD. This was reasonable because of some THF removal from the structure of MgCl₂/THF by Lewis acid compounds. In addition to the effect of modification with additives on the partial elimination of THF, the catalytic activities could be increased due to the titanium atoms that have been locally concentrated on the surface as seen by energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy measurement. On the basis of the in situ electron spin resonance measurement, the mixed metal chlorides (ZnCl₂‐SiCl₄) addition could promote the amount of Ti³⁺after reduction with triethylaluminum. It revealed that the modification of TiCl₄/MgCl₂/THF catalytic system with mixed metal chlorides (ZnCl₂‐SiCl₄) is very useful for ethylene polymerization. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1588–1594, 2013     

Plausible guard effect on the active sites of heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalyst by coordinating monomers and growing polymer chains in the initial stage of propene polymerization

Investigation of propene polymerization by a modified stopped‐flow technique using TiCl₄/ethylbenzoate(EB)/MgCl₂ Ziegler–Natta catalyst with or without pretreating the catalyst with triethylaluminium (TEA) within an ultra‐short period (ca 1 s) was conducted to gain new understanding of the nature of active sites related to TEA in the early stage of polymerization. When the catalyst was pretreated by a cocatalyst, deactivation behaviour was clearly observed, even within an extremely short pretreatment period. In contrast, without pretreatment, the deactivation of active sites can be neglected within the polymerization period indicating that the activated Ti species might be protected from deactivation by TEA when monomer is present in the system. A plausible guard effect on the active sites by coordinating monomer and growing polymer chains in the initial stage of polymerization is proposed to account for this phenomenon. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ethylene polymerization using a novel MgCl2/SiO2‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst

A novel MgCl₂/SiO₂‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst was prepared using a new one‐pot ball milling method. Using this catalyst, polyethylenes with different molecular weight distributions were synthesized. The effects of the [Si]/[Mg] ratio, polymerization temperature and [Al]/[Ti] ratio on the catalytic activity, the kinetic behaviour and the molecular weight and the polydispersity of the resultant polymer were studied. It was found that the polydispersity index of the polymer could be adjusted over a wide range of 5–30 through regulating the [Si]/[Mg] ratio and polymerization temperature, and especially when the [Si]/[Mg] ratio was 1.70, the polydispersity index could reach over 25. This novel bi‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst is thus useful for preparing polyethylene with a required molecular weight distribution using current equipment and technological processes. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Molecular weight distribution of polyethylene catalyzed by Ziegler–Natta catalyst supported on MgCl2 doped with AlCl3

Ti‐based Ziegler–Natta catalysts supported on MgCl₂ doped with AlCl₃ were prepared by the reaction of MgCl₂/AlCl₃–ethanol adduct with TiCl₄. No AlCl₃ crystallites were found in the AlCl₃‐doped catalysts by WAXD analysis, suggesting that AlCl₃/MgCl₂ solid solution was formed. The effect of doping on the catalyst performance in ethylene polymerization was investigated. The results showed that the catalysts based on AlCl₃‐doped MgCl₂ support exhibited a slightly higher activity than did the MgCl₂‐supported catalyst and the molecular weight distribution (MWD) of polyethylene (PE) markedly increased (from 10.8 to 47.9) with the increase of AlCl₃ content in catalysts. The changes in catalyst's active center distribution were studied based on nonlinear fitting of the polymer GPC curves by multiple Flory functions. It was found that increase of types of active centers by introducing AlCl₃ into the support should be responsible for the broadening of MWD of PE. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 1768–1772, 2006     

Propylene polymerization using MgCl2/ethylbenzoate/TiCl4 catalyst: Determination of titanium oxidation states

The chemical interaction of the catalyst MgCl₂/ethylbenzoate/TiCl₄ with the cocatalysts triethylaluminum and trisobutylaluminum was investigated to establish a relationship between the titanium oxidation states and the catalytic activity, polymer isotacticity, and polymer molecular weight in propylene polymerizations. This interaction was studied using different Al : Ti molar ratios by measuring the changes of the titanium oxidation states at different polymerization times. Both hydrogen and alkyl aluminum caused a reduction of Ti⁴⁺ species to lower oxidation states species Ti³⁺ and Ti²⁺. However, the Ti⁴⁺ species reduction appeared to be incomplete. It was found that the Ti⁴⁺ species undergoes a severe reduction as the Al : Ti molar ratio increases from 50 to 230 as overreduction takes place. This change of the Ti³⁺ species percentage with time was found to correlate with the rate–time profiles of propylene polymerization. From this observation, it would be fair to conclude that the trivalent titanium species is more likely to be the active titanium species for propylene polymerization than the aforementioned catalyst system. On the other hand, hydrogen addition was found to cause an increase in Ti³⁺ species. The increases in both hydrogen amount and/or Al : Ti molar ratio were found to cause a decrease in both molecular weight and polypropylene isotactic index. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 56–62, 2004     

Kinetic and morphological study of a magnesium ethoxide‐based Ziegler–Natta catalyst for propylene polymerization

BACKGROUND: Kinetic and morphological aspects of slurry propylene polymerization using a MgCl₂‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst synthesized from a Mg(OEt)₂ precursor are investigated in comparison with a ball‐milled Ziegler–Natta catalyst. RESULTS: The two types of catalyst show completely different polymerization profiles: mild activation and long‐standing activity with good replication of the catalyst particles for the Mg(OEt)₂‐based catalyst, and rapid activation and deactivation with severe fragmentation of the catalyst particles for the ball‐milled catalyst. The observed differences are discussed in relation to spatial distribution of TiCl₄ on the outermost part and inside of the catalyst particles. CONCLUSION: The Mg(OEt)₂‐based Ziegler–Natta catalyst is believed to show highly stable polymerization activity and good replication because of the uniform titanium distribution all over the catalyst particles. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

The roles of Grignard reagent in the Ziegler–Natta catalyst for propylene polymerization

Grignard reagent PhMgCl was added during the preparation of the catalyst system MgCl₂/di-n-butyl phthalate (DNBP)/TiCl₄—AlEt₃/diphenyl dimethoxyl silane (DPDMS) to improve its performance. It was found that PhMgCl could enhance both the activity of the catalyst and the isotacticity of the products, but decreased the Ti content of the catalysts under the same preparation conditions. The polymerization kinetics showed that PhMgCl accelerates the decay in the same time that it increased the initial and final polymerization rates. By means of UV-vis spectroscopy, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy, and the Ti content determination of the catalysts, the multiple roles of PhMgCl were disclosed: reduction of Ti⁴⁺ to Ti³⁺, association with MgCl₂ to replace part of TiCl₄ in aspecific active sites, and complexing with the original active sites to form new active sites. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polm Sci 65:925–930, 1997     

Comonomer enhancement effect of 1-hexene in ethylene copolymerization catalyzed over MgCl2/THF/TiCl4 catalysts

Homo- and copolymerization of ethylene were performed by using a catalyst system composed of TiCl₄/THF/MgCl₂ complex activated with AlEt₃ at 70°C and 3 atm. To investigate the effect of the compositional difference of the catalyst on the rates of homo- and copolymerization and on the reactivity in ethylene–hexene copolymerization, a series of six catalysts with different compositions (Mg/Ti = 0.4–16.5) were prepared by coprecipitation. The catalytic activity in ethylene polymerization increased sharply with the Mg/Ti ratio from 21 (Mg/Ti = 0.4) to 1477 kg PE/g-Ti h (Mg/Ti = 16.5). The activity in copolymerization with 1-hexene also increased with Mg/Ti ratio. The values of r₁ were 120, regardless of Mg/Ti ratios within the experimental error range. Enhancement of the polymerization rate by the addition of 1-hexene in the reaction medium was observed only for the catalysts of low Mg/Ti ratio. This unusual effect of 1-hexene on the polymerization rate was explained by chemical and physical processes that occurred during polymerization. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Performance improvement of MgCl2/dioctylphthalate/TiCl4 catalyst in propene polymerization by employing external base pair

The individual roles of three different types of external Lewis bases, namely t-butylmethyl ether (TBME), 2,2,6,6,-tetramethyl piperidine (TMPIP), and dimethoxydiphenyl silane (DMDPS), in propene polymerization using MgCl₂/dioctylphthalate (DOP)/TlCl₄ catalyst were studied. The role of TBME was found to be distinctly different from others. More active sites were believed to be activated in the presence of TBME, whereas the others seemed to play a role of converting atactic sites into isotactic ones. That difference made it possible to improve both catalyst activity and isotacticity by employing TBME together with one of the others as the external base pair. Due to the differences in the coordination strength of these bases with the catalyst, the order of addition of the two bases became important in achieving good results. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Polymerization of 1,3-butadiene with MgCl2-supported cobalt catalysts activated by ordinary alkylaluminums

MgCl₂-supported CoBr₂ catalysts were prepared from mixture of MgCl₂ and CoBr₂L₂ (L = triphenylphosphine or pyridine) in toluene. Polymerization of 1,3-butadiene was conducted over the catalysts combined with ordinary alkylaluminums as cocatalyst. The CoBr₂(PPh₃)₂/MgCl₂ catalyst gave polybutadiene with approximately 80% of 1,2 units, whereas cis-1,4-poly-butadiene was obtained with the CoBr₂(C₅H₅N)₂/MgCl₂ catalyst. Addition of triphenylphospine to the latter catalyst caused a marked increase in the content of 1,2 units. The content of 1,2 units could be thus controlled in the range from 0 to 80% by changing the amount of triphenylphosphine. On the other hand, the CoBr₂(PPh₃)₂/MgCl₂ catalyst with very low content of CoBr₂(PPh₃)₂ hardly displayed any activity. Addition of dimethoxydiphenylsilane to the catalyst gave polybutadiene containing 90 % of 1,2 units with a fairly high activity.     

The multifunctional mesoporous Sn–Cu–Ti catalysts for the B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone by molecular oxygen

The multifunctional three-component mesoporous Sn–Cu–Ti samples were successfully prepared by a facile one-pot AcHE method and characterized by XRD, N₂ sorption, ICP, FT-IR, UV–vis, SEM and TEM techniques, and their catalytic performances were carried out in the B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone by molecular oxygen. The results show that both tin and copper species can homogeneously incorporated in the crystalline framework of mesoporous anatase TiO₂, where tin species as the active sites would increase the Lewis acidity and the oxidation of benzaldehyde as pro-oxygenic agent would be promoted by the introduction of little copper species resulting in the improving catalytic performance. The prepared 15Sn–3Cu–Ti catalyst shows higher yield of ε-caprolactone than other catalysts and exhibits excellent catalytic stability even after repeated reaction for five times without any further treatment. The outstanding catalytic performance for Sn–Cu–Ti catalysts could offer a valuable reference for the industrial development of B–V oxidation of cyclohexanone.     

Clean synthesis of methyl N‐phenyl carbamate over ZnO‐TiO2 catalyst

BACKGROUND: Methyl N‐phenyl carbamate (MPC) is an intermediate for the preparation of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), which is an important monomer for polyurethane synthesis. The synthesis of MPC by the reaction of aniline and dimethyl carbonate (DMC) is becoming more and more attractive. However, most of the catalysts used in MPC synthesis are homogeneous and not environment‐friendly. Therefore, it is important and necessary to develop a new kind of oxide catalyst, that is not only friendly to the environment, but also exhibits higher activity and longer service time. RESULTS: A new heterogeneous catalyst, ZnO‐TiO₂, was prepared for MPC synthesis. ZnO‐TiO₂ catalyst with a molar ratio Ti/Zn = 2 and calcined at 673 K exhibited good catalytic activity: aniline conversion was 96.9% and MPC yield 66.7%. CONCLUSION: ZnO‐TiO₂ exhibits better catalytic activity than ZnO or TiO₂ alone, which may result from the formation of ZnTiO₃ and Zn₂TiO₄. Compared with ZnTiO₃, Zn₂TiO₄ has better selectivity for MPC synthesis. Lewis acid sites with weaker acid strength favour MPC synthesis. The catalyst activity can be recovered almost completely by calcination. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

A kinetic study of novel bimetallic titanocene catalyst for syndiospecific styrene polymerization

A kinetic study of a syndiospecific polymerization was performed with two kinds of catalysts: Cp*Ti(O(C₆H₄)CMe₂(C₆H₄)O)TiCp* [bimetallic system] and Cp*Ti(OMe)₃ [monometallic system]. The purpose of this study was to determine the reasons behind the high activity of a bimetallic catalyst system. The active site structures of the two kinds of catalysts appears to be similar to the cationic Ti [III] species having η⁵‐pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand, while the rate of the activation process of the bimetallic catalyst was found to be higher than that of the monometallic catalyst. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

Kinetic study of a highly active MgCl2‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst in liquid pool propylene polymerization. II. The influence of alkyl aluminum and alkoxysilane on catalyst activation and deactivation

The influence of alkyl aluminum and alkoxysilane on the kinetics in liquid pool propylene batch polymerization was investigated with a highly active Ziegler–Natta catalyst system that consisted of MgCl₂/TiCl₄/diester–alkoxysilane/AlR₃. In this study, diethyl phthalate and t‐BuEtSi(OMe)₂ were used as a diester and an alkoxysilane, respectively. The catalyst activity depended on the concentration of the alkyl aluminum when it came into contact with the catalyst. In addition, alkoxysilane as an external donor had a role in activating the catalyst. With respect to activity decay, the overreduction of Ti did not seem to be the cause. Instead, the decay rate decreased with an increasing alkoxysilane/catalyst ratio. This implied that activity decay was caused by the formation of dormant sites after 2,1‐misinsertion of propylene. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 2669–2679, 2002     

CO2 conversion through combined steam and CO2 reforming of methane reactions over Ni and Co catalysts

Ni‐Co bimetallic and Ni or Co monometallic catalysts prepared for CO₂ reforming of methane were tested with the stimulated biogas containing steam, CO₂, CH₄, H₂, and CO. A mix of the prepared CO₂ reforming catalyst and a commercial steam reforming catalyst was used in hopes of maximizing the CO₂ conversion. Both CO₂ reforming and steam reforming of CH₄ occurred over the prepared Ni‐Co bimetallic and Ni or Co monometallic catalysts when the feed contained steam. However, CO₂ reforming did not occur on the commercial steam reforming catalyst. There was a critical steam content limit above which the catalyst facilitated no more CO₂ conversion but net CO₂ production for steam reforming and water‐gas shift became the dominant reactions in the system. The Ni‐Co bimetallic catalyst can convert more than 70% of CO₂ in a biogas feed that contains ~33 mol% of CH₄, 21.5 mol% of CO₂, 12 mol% of H₂O, 3.5 mol% of H₂, and 30 mol% of N₂. The H₂/CO ratio of the produced syngas was in the range of 1.8‐2. X‐ray absorption spectroscopy of the spent catalysts revealed that the metallic sites of Ni‐Co bimetallic, Ni and Co monometallic catalysts after the steam reforming of methane reaction with equimolar feed (CH₄:H₂O:N₂ = 1:1:1) experienced severe oxidation, which led to the catalytic deactivation.     

A new sol‐gel route alumina for selective oxidation of H2S to sulphur

In this study, a new synthesis method was developed for the production of modified sol‐gel alumina (SG‐M) for the selective oxidation of H₂S to elemental sulphur. The catalytic activity of this modified alumina without any active metal incorporation was then compared with the activity of commercial alumina (alumina‐com) for H₂S selective oxidation. The N₂ adsorption‐desorption isotherm showed that the SG‐M alumina synthesized in this work has a mesoporous structure with well‐defined hysteresis loops. Both alumina materials showed a γ‐Al₂O₃ crystalline phase with an amorphous structure in their crystal structure. The surface acidity of the alumina materials was determined using pyridine‐adsorbed FTIR analyses, and both alumina showed Lewis acid sites on their surfaces. The catalytic activity tests were performed at 250°C using a feed ratio of O₂/H₂S:0.5. The complete conversion of H₂S over SG‐M was achieved during 400 minutes of reaction time. However, the commercial alumina lost its activity at earlier reaction times. Lewis acid sites and surface hydroxyl groups caused the alumina to be active in H₂S selective catalytic oxidation, and the formation of Al‐S bonds, observed when the H₂S conversion fell, caused a decrease in the catalytic activity of the alumina materials. A high sulphur yield (≥95%) was obtained over SG‐M, even though there was no active metal incorporation and even in the presence of excess oxygen. Considering the catalytic activities, the new sol‐gel alumina synthesized in this work is superior to commercial alumina. It was concluded that, as a catalyst without any active metal, SG‐M is a promising catalyst in H₂S selective oxidation to sulphur.