Organic/inorganic support for immobilizing (n‐BuCp)2ZrCl2/TiCl3 hybrid catalyst for use in the preparation of polymer blends

Reactor blends of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and low‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (LMWPE) were synthesized by two‐step polymerization using a hybrid catalyst. To prepare the hybrid catalyst, styrene acrylic copolymer (PSA) was first coated onto SiO₂/MgCl₂‐supported TiCl₃; then, (n‐BuCp)₂ZrCl₂ was immobilized onto the exterior PSA. UHMWPE was produced in the first polymerization stage with the presence of 1‐hexene and modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO), and the LMWPE was prepared with the presence of hydrogen and triethylaluminium in the second polymerization stage. The activity of the hybrid catalyst was considerable (6.5 × 10⁶ g PE (mol Zr)^?1 h^?1), and was maintained for longer than 8 h during the two‐step polymerization. The barrier property of PSA to the co‐catalyst was verified using ethylene polymerization experiments. The appearance of a lag phase in the kinetic curve during the first‐stage polymerization implied that the exterior catalyst ((n‐BuCp)₂ZrCl₂) could be activated prior to the interior catalyst (M‐1). Furthermore, the melting temperature, crystallinity, degree of branching, molecular weight and molecular‐weight distribution of polyethylene obtained at various polymerization times showed that the M‐1 catalyst began to be activated by MMAO after 40 min of the reaction. The activation of M‐1 catalyst led to a decrease in the molecular weight of UHMWPE. Finally, the thermal behaviors of polyethylene blends were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of cocatalysts on ethylene polymerization with fluorinated bisphenoxyimine titanium as a catalyst

In this study, we examined various alkylaluminums, including triethylaluminum (TEA), triisobutylaluminum (TIBA), and diethylaluminum chloride (DEAC), as cocatalysts for the activation of ethylene polymerizations in the presence of a fluorinated Fujita group invented titanium (FI‐Ti) catalyst, bis[N‐(3‐tert‐butylsalicylidene)‐2,3,4,5,6‐pentafluoroanilinato] titanium(IV) dichloride (complex 1 ). DEAC, because of the strong Lewis acidity, was an efficient cocatalyst for activating complex 1 for the ethylene polymerizations, whereas TEA and TIBA as cocatalysts could hardly polymerize ethylene. The effects of the polymerization temperature and Al/Ti molar ratio on the formation of active species, properties, and molecular weight of the resulting polyethylene were investigated. In the complex 1 /DEAC catalyst system, the oxidation states of Ti active species were determined by electron paramagnetic resonance. The results demonstrated that Ti(IV) active species were inclined to polymerize ethylene and yielded high‐molecular‐weight polyethylene. Comparatively, Ti(III) active species resulted from the reduction of Ti(IV) by DEAC and afforded oligomers. Moreover, the bigger steric bulk for the cocatalysts was necessary to achieve ethylene living polymerization with the fluorinated FI‐Ti catalyst. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Kinetic study of atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in ionic liquids

The kinetics of methyl methacrylate (MMA) homopolymerization performed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is investigated in detail using ethyl‐2‐bromopropionate (EPN‐Br) as initiator, CuBr as catalyst, and pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA) as ligand in ionic liquids (ILs) and acetonitrile. ILs in this research covered two different substitutional imidazolium cations and anions including halogen and halogen‐free ones. The typical cations include 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium, 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium and the typical anions include bromide, tetrafluoroborate. The effects of solvents, temperature, and reaction ingredients ratios on the polymerization kinetics are all investigated in this article and the apparent energy of activation (ΔE) calculated for the ATRP of MMA in 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium tetrafluoroborate is 6.95 KJ/mol. The number‐average molecular weights (M_n) increase linearly with conversion but are much higher than the theoretical values. It is probably due to the low concentration of deactivator at the early stage of polymerization and the lower bond energy of C‐Br in PMMA‐Br than that in EPN‐Br. Moreover, the catalyst is easily separated from the polymer and the regenerated catalyst is reused for more than three times. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Kinetics of radical polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate initiated by multi‐site phase transfer catalyst–potassium peroxydisulfate in two‐phase system

The kinetics of radical polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate, initiated by the free radicals formed in situ in the multi‐site phase transfer catalyst (PTC), 1,1,2,2‐tetramethyl‐1‐benzyl‐2‐n‐propylethylene‐1,2‐diammonium bromide chloride–potassium peroxydisulfate system was studied in an aqueous–organic two‐phase media at 60°C ± 1°C under inert and unstirred condition. The rate of polymerization (R_p) was determined at various concentrations of the monomer, initiator, catalyst, and volume fraction of aqueous phase. The effect of acid, ionic strength, and water‐immiscible organic solvents on the R_p was examined. The temperature dependence of the rate was studied, and activation parameters were calculated. R_p increased with an increase in the concentrations of monomer, initiator, multi‐site PTC, and increase in the polarity of solvent and temperature. The order with respect to monomer, initiator, and multi‐site PTC was found to be 0.50. A feasible free‐radical mechanism consistent with the experimental data has been proposed, and its significance was discussed. The synthesized polymer was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Blending ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene and poly(ethylene/10‐undecen‐1‐ol) in one nascent particle

Ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/polar polyethylene (PE) composites were blended in one nascent particle by in situ polymerization with a hybrid catalyst. Polystyrene‐coated SiO₂ particles were used to support the hybrid catalyst. Fe(acac)₃/2,6‐bis[1‐(2‐isopropylanilinoethyl)] was supported on SiO₂ for the synthesis of UHMWPE, whereas [PhN?C(CH₃)CH?C(Ph)O]VCl₂ was immobilized on a polystyrene layer to prepare a copolymer of ethylene and 10‐undecen‐1‐ol (polar PE). Importantly, the core part of the supports (the polystyrene layer) exhibited pronounced transfer resistance to 10‐undecen‐1‐ol; this provided an opportunity to keep the inside iron active sites away from the poisoning of 10‐undecen‐1‐ol. Therefore, UHMWPE was simultaneously synthesized with polar PE by in situ polymerization. Interestingly, the morphological results show that UHMWPE and the polar PE were successfully blended in one nascent polymer. This improved the miscibility of the composites, where most of the chains were difficult to crystallize because of the strong interactions between the PE chains and polar chains. The blends showed an extremely low crystallinity, that is, 9.9%. Finally, the hydrophilic properties of the polymer composites were examined. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 46652.     

含磷配体改性Mo催化剂催化丁二烯聚合的动力学研究

利用磷酸三苯酯（TPP）和五氯化钼（MoCls）配位得到主催化剂（MoTPP）,与苯酚取代的三异丁基铝（A1）组成催化体系（MoTPP—A1）催化制备1,2-聚丁二烯（1,2-PB）橡胶。通过对Morpp—A1体系的动力学实验求得反应速率常数、反应活化能等。结果表明,含rrPP体系在聚合反应初期属快引发、逐步增长、无终止的聚合反应体系,聚合速率对单体浓度呈一级动力学关系,表观活化能为Ea-44．5kJ／mol,与辛醇取代的MoCl5-A1体系（E=51．7kJ／m01）相比,前者的聚合活性高。     

Poly(propylene‐co‐ethylene) produced with a conventional and a self‐supported ziegler–natta catalyst: Effect of ethylene and hydrogen concentration on activity and polymer structure

A novel self‐supported emulsion‐based catalyst and a conventional MgCl₂‐supported Ziegler–Natta catalyst were used in the copolymerization of propylene and ethylene under industrial conditions using triethyl aluminium as cocatalyst and dicyclopentyl dimethoxy silane as external donor. The effects of the concentration of ethylene and hydrogen on the polymerization behaviors and polymer properties were investigated. The combined effect of both ethylene and hydrogen increased the relative activity of the novel catalyst more than for the conventional catalyst. This trend was consistent with our earlier observed higher degree of dormancy, due to 2,1 insertions, found with the novel catalyst. More importantly, the work has uncovered that the self‐supported catalyst incorporates ethylene in a more random fashion and produces copolymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distribution (MWD). These results in combination with polymer microstructure studies using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ¹³C‐NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry all indicated that the novel catalyst has a narrower distribution of active site types than the conventional reference catalyst. The narrow composition of active site structures, the narrow MWD, and the random incorporation of ethylene into the polymer chain indicated that the emulsion‐based catalyst possesses features that to a certain degree tend to be more indicative for a single‐site‐like catalyst structure and behavior. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Crystallization behavior of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanocomposites prepared by ethylene in situ polymerization

A [3‐t‐Bu‐2‐O? C₆H₃CH?N(C₆F₅)]₂TiCl₂ catalyst (bis(phenoxyimine)titanium dichloride complex – FI catalyst) was immobilized on disilanolisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (OH‐POSS) to prepare ultrahigh molecular‐weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanocomposites during ethylene in situ polymerization. The dispersion state of POSS in the UHMWPE matrix was characterized by X‐ray diffraction measurements and transmission electron microscopy. It was shown that the OH‐POSS achieved uniformed dispersion in the UHMWPE matrix, although its polarity was unmatched. The isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization behavior of the nanocomposites was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry. The crystallization rate of the nanocomposites was enhanced because of the incorporation of POSS during the isothermal crystallization. POSS acted as a nucleus for the initial nucleation and the subsequent growth of the crystallites. For nonisothermal studies, POSS showed an increase in the crystallinity. The crystallization rate of the nanocomposites decreased because the presence of POSS hindered the crystal growth. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 40847.     

Synthesis of liquid crystalline polymers from polyethylene terephthalate and 4‐acetoxybenzoic acid: A kinetic study

Liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs) have been synthesized from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and 4‐acetoxybenzoic acid (OB) through melt step‐growth polymerization. The presence of liquid crystalline texture is first examined using optical polarizing microscopy. The thermal durability of the developed systems is studied through thermogravimetric analysis. The kinetics of the polymerization processes is analyzed. The effectiveness of three catalysts commonly used in polyesterification is investigated. The effect of reaction temperature is also examined. The progress of polycondensation reactions over time takes a nonlinear behavior of slight sigmoidal shape, irrespective of whether or not the reaction is catalyzed. Simple second and third order equations, along with a nonlinear model, are used to determine the kinetic parameters characterizing these reactions. The rate of reaction is enhanced when the reaction temperature is increased. Overall, second‐order kinetics well describes the polymerization reactions when the data set is divided into two regions. Antimony trioxide induces a more visible enhancement to the rate of reaction, compared to zinc acetate and sodium acetate. The presence of a catalyst generally increases the reaction activation energy. This indicates that entropy factors outweigh the increase in activation energy and drive the catalyzed reactions to completion. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

New fluorine‐containing bissalicylidenimine–titanium complexes for olefin polymerization

Three new titanium complexes bearing salicylidenimine ligands—bis[(salicylidene)‐2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoroanilinato]titanium(IV) dichloride ( 1 ), bis[(3,5‐di‐tert‐butylsalicylidene)‐2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoroanilinato]titanium(IV) dichloride ( 2 ), and bis[(3,5‐di‐tert‐butylsalicylidene)‐4‐trifluoromethyl‐2,3,5,6‐tetrafluoroanilinato]titanium(IV) dichloride ( 3 )—were synthesized. The catalytic activities of 1 – 3 for ethylene polymerization were studied with poly(methylaluminoxane) (MAO) as a cocatalyst. Complex 1 was inactive in ethylene polymerization. Complex 2 at a molar ratio of cocatalyst to pre catalyst of Al_MAO/Ti = 400–1600 showed very high activity in ethylene polymerization comparable to that of the most efficient metallocene complexes and titanium compounds with phenoxy imine and indolide imine chelating ligands. It gave linear high‐molecular‐weight polyethylene [weight‐average molecular weight (M_w) ≥ 1,700,000. weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight (M_w/M_n) = 4–5] with a melting point of 142°C. The ability of the 2 /MAO system to copolymerize ethylene with hexene‐1 in toluene was analyzed. No measurable incorporation of the comonomer was observed at 1:1 and 2:1 hexene‐1/ethylene molar ratios. However, the addition of hexene‐1 had a considerable stabilizing effect on the ethylene consumption rate and lowered the melting point of the resultant polymer to 132°C. The 2 /MAO system exhibited low activity for propylene polymerization in a medium of the liquid monomer. The polymer that formed was high‐molecular‐weight atactic polypropylene (M_w ～ 870,000, M_w/M_n = 9–10) showing elastomeric behavior. The activity of 3 /MAO in ethylene polymerization was approximately 70 times lower than that of the 2 /MAO system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 1040–1049, 2005     

Nonisothermal crystallization behavior of highly exfoliated polypropylene/clay nanocomposites prepared by in situ polymerization

Polypropylene/clay nanocomposites (PPCNs) were prepared via an in situ polymerization method with a Ziegler–Natta/clay compound catalyst in which the MgCl₂/TiCl₄ catalyst was embedded in the clay galleries. The wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results showed that the clay particles were highly exfoliated in the polypropylene (PP) matrix. The nonisothermal crystallization kinetics of these PPCNs were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry at various cooling rates. The nucleation activity were calculated by Dobreva's method to demonstrate that the highly dispersed silicate layers acted as effective nucleating agents. The Avrami, Jeziorny, Ozawa, and Mo methods were used to describe the nonisothermal crystallization behavior of the PP and PPCNs. Various parameters of nonisothermal crystallization, such as the crystallization half‐time, crystallization rate constant, and the kinetic parameter F(t), reflected that the highly exfoliated silicate layers significantly accelerated the crystallization process because of its outstanding nucleation effect. The activation energy values of the PP and PPCNs determined by the Kissinger method increased with the addition of the nanosilicate layers. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Deactivation Kinetics of Metallocene‐Catalyzed Ethene Polymerization at High Temperature and Elevated Pressure

Summary: The kinetics of ethene polymerization with metallocene/[Me₂PhNH]⁺[B(C₆F₅)₄]^?/AlⁱBu₃ (ternary systems) and metallocene/methylaluminoxan (MAO) systems respectively has been investigated at 100–140 °C and 7 MPa. Overall, eight different unbridged and ansa‐metallocenes were tested. The effect of ligand structure, cocatalyst and catalyst concentration on the thermostability and the activation energy of deactivation were studied. Deactivation with respect to the catalyst concentration followed a first order reaction. The half‐life as well as the activation energy of the ternary systems depended strongly on ligand structure while the ligand structure of MAO‐activated metallocenes merely influenced the half‐life. The half‐life associated with MAO activation is approximately twice as high as that in ternary activation. Based on these results, conclusions about the deactivation reactions have been drawn.

Influence of catalyst concentration on deactivation.     

N-(n-Alkyl)-2-pyridinemethanimine mediated atom transfer radical polymerization of lauryl methacrylate: Effect of length of alkyl group

The article describes the polymerization of lauryl methacrylate (LMA) using Cu(I)Br as catalyst for atom transfer radical polymerization in conjunction with N-(n-propyl) [PPMI]/(n-hexyl) [HPMI]/(n-octyl) [OPMI]-2-pyridinemethanimine as complex ligands. The polymerization of LMA was investigated in bulk and solution (toluene as solvent) using Cu(I)Br as catalyst, N-(n-alkyl)-2-pyridinemethanimine as ligands and ethyl-2-bromo isobutyrate (EBiB) as initiator. The ratio of LMA : CuBr : Ligand : EBiB was kept constant in all the polymerizations. In bulk polymerization, the solubility of the catalyst complex increased with increasing the length of alkyl chain on the ligand from propyl to octyl and also gave polymers with narrow molecular weight distribution. The PDI was further narrowed by using OPMI as ligand and toluene was used as solvent. The kinetics of polymerization was also analyzed and it clearly shows that % conversion increased with time. Increase in molecular weight with % conversion without affecting PDI clearly show that the system is living and living nature can be controlled by increasing the length of alkyl group. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Comparative study of copolymerization and terpolymerization of ethylene/propylene/diene monomers using metallocene catalyst

(Ind)₂ZrCl₂ catalyst was synthesized and used for copolymerization of ethylene and propylene (EPR) and terpolymerization of ethylene propylene and 5‐ethyldiene‐2‐norbornene (ENB). Methylaluminoxane (MAO) was used as cocatalyst. The activity of the catalyst was higher in copolymerization of ethylene and propylene (EPR) rather than in terpolymerization of ethylene, propylene and diene monomers. The effects of [Al] : [Zr] molar ratio, polymerization temperature, pressure ratio of ethylene/propylene and the ENB concentration on the terpolymerization behavior were studied. The highest productivity of the catalyst was obtained at 60°C, [Al] : [Zr] molar ratios of 750 : 1 and 500 : 1 for copolymerization and terpolymerization, respectively. Increasing the molar ratio of [Al] : [Zr] up to 500 : 1 increased the ethylene and ENB contents of the terpolymers, while beyond this ratio the productivity of the catalyst dropped, leading to lower ethylene and ENB contents. Terpolymerization was carried out batchwise at temperatures from 40 to 70°C. Rate time profiles of the polymerization were a decay type for both copolymerization and terpolymerization. Glass transition temperatures (T_g) of the obtained terpolymers were between ?64 and ?52°C. Glass transition temperatures of both copolymers and terpolymers were decreased with increased ethylene content of the polymers. Dynamic mechanical and rheological properties of the obtained polymers were studied. A compounded EPDM showed good thermal stability with time. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Effect of reactive poly(ethylene glycol) flexible chains on curing kinetics and impact properties of bisphenol‐a glycidyl ether epoxy

Bisphenol‐A glycidyl ether epoxy resin was modified using reactive poly(ethylene glycol) (PEO). Dynamic mechanical analysis showed that introducing PEO chains into the structure of the epoxy resin increased the mobility of the molecular segments of the epoxy network. Impact strength was improved with the addition of PEO at both room (RT) and cryogenic (CT, 77 K) temperature. The curing kinetics of the modified epoxy resin with polyoxypropylene diamines was examined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Curing kinetic parameters were determined from nonisothermal DSC curves. Kinetic analysis suggested that the two‐parameter autocatalytic model suitably describes the kinetics of the curing reaction. Increasing the reactive PEO content decreased the heat flow of curing with little effect on activation energy (E_a), pre‐exponential factor (A), or reaction order (m and n). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Lewis acid mediated polymerization of poly(dimethylsiloxane) polymers: Investigating reaction kinetics using both NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry

Bulk condensation polymerization of (dimethylmethoxy)‐m‐carborane and (dichlorodimethyl)silane occurs in the presence of an M^x+Cl_x Lewis acid catalyst. In the literature, FeCl₃ is commonly used as the catalyst of choice but little is known about the activation energy and entropy of this polymerization. By monitoring using ¹H‐NMR the reaction of a methoxy‐terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) and (dichlorodimethyl)silane the rate determining step in the FeCl₃ catalyzed system is determined. The activation energy was calculated to be +43.6 kJ mol^?1 and the entropy of the reaction was also calculated. The calculated large entropy of reaction indicates that the transition step is highly ordered. The formation of the electrophile intermediate species in the first step of the reaction has also been investigated using cyclic voltammetry. To the cyclic voltammetry data Randles‐Sevcik fits have been applied to the oxidation peaks to determine the diffusion coefficients for the oxidation of Fe²⁺ to Fe³⁺. Also, the initial prediction of a reversible reaction Step 1 was shown to be incorrect as the normalized reduction peak maxima increase with scan rate, indicative of an electron transfer‐chemical reaction mechanism. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Properties of poly(n‐butyl methacrylate) prepared by reverse atom transfer radical polymerization in an aqueous dispersed system

Reverse atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of n‐butyl methacrylate (BMA) in waterborne media using Cu(II) complexes with azo initiators (i.e., reverse ATRP) was conducted. The influence of several factors, such as surfactant, catalyst, and reaction time, on the stability of the emulsion, the particle size, the morphology of the emulsion particles, and the control of the polymerization was investigated. The results showed great differences between ATRP and conventional emulsion polymerization, especially the nucleation mechanism and the kinetics. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1542–1547, 2003     

Kinetics of microwave‐assisted polymerization of ϵ‐caprolactone

The kinetics of polymerization of ?‐caprolactone (CL) in bulk was studied by irradiating with microwave of 350 W and frequency of 2.45 GHz with different cycle‐heating periods (30–50 s). The molecular weight distributions were determined as a function of reaction time by gel permeation chromatography. Because the temperature of the system continuously varied with reaction time, a model based on continuous distribution kinetics with time/temperature‐dependent rate coefficients was proposed. To quantify the effect of microwave on polymerization, experiments were conducted under thermal heating. The polymerization was also investigated with thermal and microwave heating in the presence of zinc catalyst. The activation energies determined from temperature‐dependent rate coefficients for pure thermal heating, thermally aided catalytic polymerization, and microwave‐aided catalytic polymerization were 24.3, 13.4, and 5.7 kcal/mol, respectively. This indicates that microwaves increase the polymerization rate by lowering the activation energy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1450–1456, 2004     

Synthesis,structural and spectral properties of an ionic polyacetylene: Poly[N‐(5‐nitro‐2‐furanmethylene)‐2‐ethynylpyridinium bromide]

A new ionic polyacetylene was prepared by the activation polymerization of 2‐ethynylpyridine with 2‐(bromomethyl)‐5‐nitrofuran in high yield without any additional initiator or catalyst. This polymerization proceeded well in a homogeneous manner to give a high yield of the polymer (92%). The activated acetylenic triple bond of N‐(5‐nitro‐2‐furanmethylene)‐2‐ethynylpyridinium bromide, formed in the first quaternerization process, was found to be susceptible to linear polymerization. This polymer was completely soluble in such polar organic solvents as dimethylformamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, and N,N‐dimethylacetamide. The inherent viscosities of the resulting polymers were in the range 0.12–0.19 dL/g, and X‐ray diffraction analysis data indicated that this polymer was mostly amorphous. The polymer structure was characterized by various instrumental methods to have a polyacetylene backbone structure with the designed substituent. The photoluminescence peak was observed at 593 nm; this corresponded to a photon energy of 2.09 eV. The polymer exhibited irreversible electrochemical behaviors between the doping and undoping peaks. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011