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Removal of mononuclear alkylaluminum species in aluminoxane using a crosslinked polymer bearing bulky phenoxy groups

Polymer Journal volume 53, pages 1187–1193 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

In olefin polymerization using methylaluminoxane (MAO) as a cocatalyst, the remaining trialkylaluminum (R3Al) in MAO sometimes leads to negative effects, such as a decrease in activity and molecular weight of the obtained polymer. Thus, in this study, the amount of R3Al in modified MAO (MMAO) was reduced by using a crosslinked terpolymer bearing bulky phenoxy groups as a solid support for R3Al. The R3Al removal efficiency of the terpolymer at a certain hydroxy group content was found to be much higher than that of SiO2, which has been previously reported to be an efficient R3Al remover. This is probably because of the steric bulkiness around the hydroxy groups and because some R3Al is physically adsorbed into the terpolymer. The chain transfer reaction derived from residual R3Al in propylene polymerization is mostly suppressed after the treatment of MMAO with the terpolymer.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Iwatani Naoji foundation. The generous donation of MMAO from Tosoh-Finechem Co. (Japan) is greatly acknowledged. The authors are also grateful to the Digital Manufacturing Education and Research Center for high-temperature GPC measurements and TG-MS analysis.

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  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan

    Ryo Tanaka, Mari Nishizono, Yuushou Nakayama & Takeshi Shiono

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  1. Ryo Tanaka
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  2. Mari Nishizono
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  3. Yuushou Nakayama
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  4. Takeshi Shiono
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Correspondence to Ryo Tanaka or Takeshi Shiono.

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Tanaka, R., Nishizono, M., Nakayama, Y. et al. Removal of mononuclear alkylaluminum species in aluminoxane using a crosslinked polymer bearing bulky phenoxy groups. Polym J 53, 1187–1193 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-021-00507-w

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