Effect of prepolymerization on propylene polymerization

Abstract

Polymerization of propylene was performed using MgCl2. EtOH.TiCl4-ID.TEA.ED catalyst system in hexane, where internal donor (ID) was an organic diester and external donor (ED) was a silane compound and also tri ethyl aluminum (TEA) as activator. A new method called isothermal/nonisothermal method (INM), a combination of isothermal and nonisothermal methods, was applied to produce the spherical polymer particles. The effects of the INM method and prepolymerization temperature on the final polymer morphology, Mw, and catalyst activity were also investigated. The morphology of the polymers was evaluated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. GPC results were used for molecular weight (M w) evaluation. It was found that the polymers had a better morphology when they were prepared using INM method. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.