DuPont catalysts top metallocenes
15 Jan 2000
A new generation of single-site iron and cobalt catalysts from DuPont are tipped to produce plastics with superior processing characteristics to metallocene-derived polymers.
The catalysts, developed in conjunction with researchers at the University of North Carolina, produce high-density polyethylene with high crystallinity and virtually no branching, but with a wider spread of molecular weights than metallocene grades. This makes them much easier to process.
The catalyst molecules themselves are based on tridentate pyridene bis-imine ligands coordinated to iron and cobalt. They are thermally stable and active above 90 degrees C, and work at moderate pressures.
