Dependence of reactivity of propagation centers of oxide catalysts for ethylene polymerization on catalyst composition and activation conditions

The propagation rate constant K p was used as a measure of reactivity of propagation centers in ethylene polymerization with oxide catalysts. This constant was determined by a radiotracer quenching technique for oxide catalysts of different compositions and activation conditions. For catalysts based on various transition metal oxides, an increase of K p was observed in the series W < Mo < Cr and V < Cr. In the case of chromium oxide catalyst it was shown that K p value does not depend on the content of the transition metal in a catalyst. A change of propagation center reactivity was found when oxides of different composition (SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , ZrO 2 , TiO 2 ) were used as supports. An increase of the vacuum activation temperature of a catalyst results in increasing K p . Pretreatment of catalyst with different reducing agents (SO 2 , CO 2 , NH 3 , HCN) results in the change of K p value in comparison in comparison with the catalyst activated by the vacuum treatment only. The data obtained on the variation of the reactivity of the propagation centers permit one to draw a conclusion about the composition of surface compounds as acitve centers of the oxide polymerization catalysts.