Copolymerization of ethylene and 1‐octene by homogeneous and different supported metallocenic catalysts

Abstract In this work, the performance of the homogeneous catalyst system based on Et(Flu) 2 ZrCl 2 /MAO was evaluated on the copolymerization of ethylene and 1‐octene. Characteristics of some of the produced polymers were also investigated. A study was performed to compare this system with that of Cp 2 ZrCl 2 /MAO. The influence of different support materials for the Cp 2 ZrCl 2 was also evaluated, using silica, MgCl 2 , and the zeolite sodic mordenite NaM. An increase in activity was observed in relation to the comonomer addition for the two homogeneous catalysts. The copolymers produced by the Et(Flu) 2 ZrCl 2 /MAO system showed higher molecular weight and narrower molecular weight distribution. We verified that the catalyst supported on SiO 2 was the most active one, although the copolymers produced with the catalyst supported on NaM showed higher molecular weight and lower molecular weight distribution. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 82: 724–730, 2001