Melamine-Formaldehyde-Supported Titanium-Based Heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta Catalyst for Ethylene Polymerization in Slurry Process

Abstract

Ethylene was polymerized at 40 C temperature and 1 atm. pressure using melamine-formaldehyde (M-F) supported titanium tetrachloride (TiCl 4 ) catalyst. Polymer-supported catalysts were prepared with a different weight ratio of TiCl 4 / M-F in hexane. The wt% titanium incorporated in the polymer matrix was determined by UV-visible spectroscopy. In addition, the resulting catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDX, XRD, and TGA. The catalytic productivity is found to be 4721.09 g PE/g Ti/h. The productivity of the catalysts also depends on the titanium content in the polymer matrix. The catalyst with titanium content 3.5 wt% showed maximum activity. These catalysts also showed good storability.