Brazilian Mineral Clay as Support for Metallocene Catalyst in the Synthesis of Polyethylene
Silica was compared with clays as supports for metallocene. Ethylene homopolymerization with both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts was performed. Activation energy was higher for
(n-BuCp)2ZrCl2/SiO2/MAO, although high activities were obtained for catalysts with clay. They showed Ea close to that of homogeneous precursor. Catalyst/clay control polymer morphology until 363 K