Ethylene/1-octene copolymerization studies with in situ supported metallocene catalysts:: Effect of polymerization parameters on the catalyst activity and polymer microstructure

Ethylene and 1-octene copolymerizations were carried out with an in situ supported rac-[dimethylsilylbis(methylbenzoindenyl)] zirconium dichloride catalyst. In a previous study, it was found that some in situ supported metallocenes produced polyethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers with broad and bimodal short chain branching distributions and narrow molecular weight distributions. The ability to produce polyolefins with multimodal microstructural distributions in a single metallocene and a single reactor is attractive for producing polymers with balanced properties with simpler reactor technology. In this study, a factorial experimental design was carried out to examine the effects of the polymerization temperature and ethylene pressure, the presence of hydrogen and an alkylaluminum activator, and the level of the comonomer in the feed on the catalyst activity, short chain branching distribution, and molecular weight distribution of the polymer. The temperature had the most remarkable effect on the polymer microstructure. At high 1-octene levels, the short chain branching distribution of the copolymer broadened significantly with decreasing temperature. Several factor interactions, including the hydrogen and alkylaluminum concentrations, were also observed, demonstrating the sensitivity of the catalyst to the polymerization conditions. For this catalyst system, the responses to the polymerization conditions are not easily predicted from typical polymerization mechanisms, and several two-factor interactions seem to play an important role. Given the multiple-site nature of the catalyst, it has been shown that predicting the polymerization activity and the resulting microstructure of the polymer is a challenging task. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.