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

In this work, the performance of the homogeneous catalyst system based on Et(Flu)2ZrCl2/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 Cp2ZrCl2/MAO. The influence of different support materials for the Cp2ZrCl2 was also evaluated, using silica, MgCl2, 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)2ZrCl2/MAO system showed higher molecular weight and narrower molecular weight distribution. We verified that the catalyst supported on SiO2 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