Ethylene/1-Hexene Copolymers Produced with MAO/(nBuCp)2ZrCl2 Supported on SBA-15 Materials with Different Pore Sizes

The influence of the support architecture (structure and pore size) on the activity of MAO/(nBuCp)(2)ZrCl2 heterogeneous catalysts in the polymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene is studied through the characterization of the polymers' microstructure. SBA-15 silica-based mesostructured materials are synthesized with different pore sizes and compared with commercial silica. All SBA-15 supported catalysts lead to higher catalytic activities than amorphous silica and give rise to ethylene/1-hexene copolymers with bimodal CCD, which suggests that the carrier structure plays an important role not only in the global rate of the process but also in the copolymer composition. The structures and pore sizes of the support show a marked influence on the polymer CCD shape.