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Study of Titanium/Vanadium Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalysts performance in slurry-phase ethylene polymerization for producing polyethylene with broad/bimodal molecular weight distribution

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Abstract

In this work, titanium/vanadium (Ti/V) Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalyst was synthesized by loading TiCl4 and VOCl3 on MgCl2 support formed by the Grignard reagent method. The effects of vanadium content on the catalyst activity, and introducing different types of alkyl aluminums (triethylaluminum (TEA) and trioctylaluminium (TnOA)) as cocatalyst on the efficiency of the Ti/V Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalyst in the polymerization process were investigated. The polymerization data demonstrated that hybrid catalyst has good activity with both TEA and TnOA cocatalysts. The activity and productivity of Ti/V Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalyst was higher than single titanium-based catalyst. GPC and DSC data indicated that polyethylene (PE) produced with hybrid catalyst has some good characteristics, a broader/bimodal molecular weight distribution (MWD), high melting point and high degree of crystallization. With increasing of V content in hybrid catalyst and using TnOA cocatalyst, MWD is broadened with no steady increase in molecular weight (MW). Although the tensile strength of the obtained PE product increases with the increase of the vanadium content of Ti/V Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalyst, but the optimal amount of vanadium is 0.3 molar ratio of V/Ti.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely appreciate the support of Tabriz Petrochemical Company Research Center and University of Tabriz.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Polymer Composite Research Laboratory, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

    Majid Zeynali & Ali Olad

  2. Research and Technology Development Laboratory, Research and Technology Management, Tabriz Petrochemical Complex, Tabriz, Iran

    Heidar Ranjbarbaranlo

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  1. Majid Zeynali
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  2. Heidar Ranjbarbaranlo
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  3. Ali Olad
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Correspondence to Ali Olad.

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Zeynali, M., Ranjbarbaranlo, H. & Olad, A. Study of Titanium/Vanadium Ziegler–Natta hybrid catalysts performance in slurry-phase ethylene polymerization for producing polyethylene with broad/bimodal molecular weight distribution. J Polym Res 30, 100 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-023-03472-5

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