Ethylene polymerization over a nano-sized silica supported Cp2ZrCl2/MAO catalyst

Nano-sized and micro-sized silica particles were used to support Cp2ZrCl2/MAO catalyst for ethylene polymerization. Nano-sized catalyst exhibited much better ethylene polymerization activity than micro-sized catalyst. At the optimum temperature of 60 °C, nano-sized catalyst’s activity was 4.35 times the micro-sized catalyst’s activity, which was attributed to the large specific external surface area, the absence of internal diffusion resistance, and the better active site dispersion for the nano-sized catalyst. Polymers produced were characterized with SEM, XRD, DSC, and densimeter. SEM indicated that the resulting polymer morphology contained discrete tiny particles and thin long fiberous interlamellar links.