Organic-inorganic hybrid supported zirconocene catalysts for ethylene polymerization

Silica-poly[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate-co-4-vinylpyridine] inorganic-organic hybrid (SMV) has been synthesized, and by loading zirconocene catalyst on the carrier, novel zirconocene supported catalyst has been made and tested for ethylene polymerization. The silica monomer (SM) is prepared by coupling reaction of hydroxyl group of silica surface with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (MPS) and then, SMV is synthesized by copolymerization of SM with 4-vinylpyridine. The formation of SM and SMV has been confirmed by FTIR, solid-state C-13 NMR, XPS, and elemental analysis (EA). Loading Cp2ZrCl2 on SMV resulted in the zirconocene supported catalyst. Ethylene polymerization data demonstrate that the SMV supported catalyst has higher activity than the SM supported one and yields polyethylene with much higher molecular weight than that produced by the corresponding homogeneous zirconocene catalyst. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.