ABSTRACT: The effect of adding diethyl zinc as a chain transfer agent during the polymerization of propylene in heptane performed at 80 °C was studied. Although it was expected that the chain transfer would stop after precipitation of the polymer, the polymer molecular weight continued to increase throughout the whole of the polymerization. The presence of diethyl zinc had an additional effect that the polymerizations were devoid of reactor fouling. To unravel this phenomenon, the polymer particle morphology was studied. Under the conditions applied, surprisingly, uniform platelet-shaped polymer particles were formed. At high polymer content, these particles aggregate into microfibrillar structures consisting of nematic columnar strands of the same uniform platelets. The polymer particle morphology, as a result of controlled crystallization, is believed to play a crucial role in preventing reactor fouling.
Authors
- dr hab. inż. Lidia Jasińska-Walc link open in new tab ,
- Rob Duchateau,
- Miloud Bouyahyi,
- Joey Aarts,
- Amin Syed,
- Erik Delsman
Additional information
- DOI
- Digital Object Identifier link open in new tab 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c02307
- Category
- Publikacja w czasopiśmie
- Type
- artykuły w czasopismach
- Language
- angielski
- Publication year
- 2021
