Polymer-supported titanocene catalyst for styrene polymerization

Abstract

In this thesis, the polymer-supported titanocene catalysts have been studied for styrene polymerization. The polymer-supported titanocene catalysts can be divided into 2 systems according to type of cocatalysts (methylaluminoxane (MAO) and boron compound). The results indicated that (polystyrene-co-DVB)Cp*TiCl₃-MAO system or P-Cp*TiCl₃-MAO exhibits a higher catalytic activity than (polystyrene-co-DVB)Cp*TiCl₃[PhNMe₂H][B(C₆F₅)₄] system or P-Cp*TiCl₃-boron. The optimum condition for P-Cp*TiCl₃-MAO system is: 87 mmol of styrene, Al/Ti molar ratio of 300, 0.1000 mmol of catalyst at polymerization temperature of 70 ℃ and polymerization time of 4 h. The optimum condition for P-Cp*TiCl₃-boron system is: 87 mmol of styrene, Al/Ti molar ratio of 200, 0.0100 mmol of catalyst at polymerization temperature of 70 ℃ and polymerization time of 4 h. Tacticity of obtained polystyrene is syndiotactic polystyrene, revealed by the ¹³C NMR technique. The result from SEM demonstrated that the morphology of polystyrene is a replica of support particles.