Ethylene Polymerization with Palygorskite Supported Nickel-Diimine Catalyst

A nickel-diimine catalyst [N, N’-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-1,4-diaza-2,3-dimethyl-1, 3-butadiene nickel dibromide, DMN] was supported on palygorskite clay for ethylene slurry polymerization. The effect of supporting methods on the catalyst impregnation was studied and compared. Pretreatment of the support with methylalumi-noxane (MAO) followed by DMN impregnation gave higher catalyst loading and catalytic activity than the direct impregnation of DMN. Catalyst activity as high as 5.42×105g PE·molNi-1·h-1 was achieved at ethylene pressure of 6.87×105 Pa and polymerization temperature of 20℃. In particular, the morphological change of the support during MAO treatment was characterized and analyzed. It was found that nano-fiber clusters formed during the support pretreatment, which increased the surface area of the support and favored the impregnation of the catalyst. The investigation of polymerization behavior of supported catalyst revealed that the polymerization rate could be kept at a relatively h