COMONOMER ENHANCEMENT EFFECT OF 1-HEXENE IN ETHYLENE COPOLYMERIZATION CATALYZED OVER MGCL2/THF/TICL4 CATALYSTS

Homo- and copolymerization of ethylene were performed by using a catalyst system composed of TiCl4/THF/MgCl2 complex activated with AlEt3 at 70-degrees-C and 3 atm. To investigate the effect of the compositional difference of the catalyst on the rates of homo- and copolymerization and on the reactivity in ethylene-hexene copolymerization, a series of six catalysts with different compositions (Mg/Ti = 0.4-16.5) were prepared by coprecipitation. The catalytic activity in ethylene polymerization increased sharply with the Mg/Ti ratio from 21 (Mg/Ti = 0.4) to 1477 kg PE/g-Ti h (Mg/Ti = 16.5). The activity in copolymerization with 1-hexene also increased with Mg/Ti ratio. The values of r1 were 120, regardless of Mg/Ti ratios within the experimental error range. Enhancement of the polymerization rate by the addition of 1-hexene in the reaction medium was observed only for the catalysts of low Mg/Ti ratio. This unusual effect of 1-hexene on the polymerization rate was explained by chemical and physical processes that occurred during polymerization.