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Homo- and copolymerizations of ethylene and α-olefins in n-hexane catalyzed by Ni(ii)-α-diimine catalyst

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Abstract

Ni(II)-α-diimine catalyst [(2,6-i-Pr)2C6H3-DAB(An)]NiBr2 plus methylaluminoxane was successfully used in the homopolymerization of ethylene, 1-hexene, and 1-octene and the copolymerization of ethylene with 1-hexene and 1-octene in n-hexane. The polymerization of 1-octene was conducted in a controlled manner with a narrow molecular weight distribution (M w/M n = 1.2–1.5) and with the weight-average molecular weight increasing linearly with the monomer conversion. The molecular weights, T g, T m, branching degree, and density of the obtained (co)polymers were greatly controlled by ethylene pressure and polymerization temperature. Compared with that of ethylene homopolymer, the branching degree of the copolymers prepared by the copolymerization of ethylene with 1-hexene or 1-octene increased, whereas the molecular weight, density, T m, and catalyst activity decreased. However, compared with those of the homopolymer of 1-hexene or 1-octene, the copolymer density, T m, and catalyst activity increased, whereas the branching degree declined.

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Acknowledgment

This study was supported by program for new century excellent talents in Chinese Universities and Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, No. 15, Beisan Huangdong Road, Chaoyang, Beijing, 100029, China

    Xinhua Yan, Zhifeng Fu, Yingqi Li & Yan Shi

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  1. Xinhua Yan
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  2. Zhifeng Fu
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Correspondence to Yan Shi.

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Yan, X., Fu, Z., Li, Y. et al. Homo- and copolymerizations of ethylene and α-olefins in n-hexane catalyzed by Ni(ii)-α-diimine catalyst. Polym. Bull. 68, 327–339 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-011-0540-x

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