Characterization of polyethylene synthesized by zirconium single site catalysts

2014    Applied Petrochemical Research


Abstract

New non-metallocene, bridged-zirconium center catalysts were prepared by Schiff base condensations reaction of two equivalents of appropriate 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde with one equivalent of 4,4′-methylene bis(2-methylcyclohexylamine), and subsequent metathesis reaction with ZrCl4(THF)2, and tested for ethylene polymerization reaction at different conditions. Catalyst productivities were found to be high, in the range of 29.5 × 103 kg/mole·Zr·h to 2.3 × 103 kg/mole·Zr·h, dependents on the polymerization condition. The molecular weight of the product, i.e. polyethylene, varied from 397,000 to 988,000. 13C NMR study of the polymers indicate that fraction of branches and end groups percentage range from 0.01 to 0.55. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that polyethylene samples had highly crystalline structure within the orthorhombic space group (Pnam) and carbon–carbon interatomic distance of 0.154061 nm and the C–C–C angle of 112.192°.

Publication Authors

Name

Affiliation

Abdulhamid A. Alsaygh

Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

Jehan Al-hamidi

Chemistry Department, College of Science, Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Fares D. Alsewailem

Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

Ibrahim M. Al-Najjar

Petroleum and Petrochemicals Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)

Vladimir L. Kuznetsov

Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford

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