Effect of EtOH/MgCl2 Molar Ratios on the Catalytic Properties of MgCl2-SiO2/TiCl4 Ziegler-Natta Catalyst for Ethylene Polymerization

MgCl2-SiO2/TiCl4 Ziegler-Natta catalysts for ethylene polymerization were prepared by impregnation of MgCl2 on SiO2 in heptane and further treatment with TiCl4. MgCl2·nEtOH adduct solutions were prepared with various EtOH/MgCl2 molar ratios for preparation of the MgCl2-supported and MgCl2-SiO2-supported catalysts in order to investigate the effect on polymerization performance of both catalyst systems. The catalytic activities for ethylene polymerization decreased markedly with increased molar ratios of [EtOH]/[MgCl2] for the MgCl2-supported catalysts, while for the bi-supported catalysts, the activities only decreased slightly. The MgCl2-SiO2-supported catalyst had relatively constant activity, independent of the [EtOH]/[MgCl2] ratio. The lower [EtOH]/[MgCl2] in MgCl2-supported catalyst exhibited better catalytic activity. However, for the MgCl2-SiO2-supported catalyst, MgCl2 can agglomerate on the SiO2 surface at low [EtOH]/[MgCl2] thus not being not suitable for TiCl4 loading. It was found that the optimized [EtOH]/[MgCl2] value for preparation of bi-supported catalysts having high activity and good spherical morphology with little agglomerated MgCl2 was 7. Morphological studies indicated that MgCl2-SiO2-supported catalysts have good morphology with spherical shapes that retain the morphology of SiO2. The BET measurement revealed that pore size is the key parameter dictating polymerization activity. The TGA profiles of the bi-supported catalyst also confirmed that it was more stable than the mono-supported catalyst, especially in the ethanol removal region.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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