Influence of the particle size of the MgCl2 support on the performance of Ziegler catalysts in the polymerization of ethylene to ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene and the resulting polymer properties

A highly systematic size series of Ziegler catalysts with similar porosities and surface textures are synthesized by varying the stirring speed during the MgCl2 support synthesis. Besides the mean particle size, the only substantial difference observed between the various catalysts is the size and number of nodules per particle. Varying the mean diameter of the catalyst particles between 1.5 and 11.9 µm, leads to a pronounced impact on the activity in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) polymerization, while the Mw capabilities are only affected to a limited extend. In addition, it is observed that both the Mws as the polymer bulk density (BD) increases during the course of the polymerization. This particularity allows to optimize the Mw and/or BD at a set polymer size, by tuning the catalyst particle size. This is particularly interesting in UHMWPE production, as control of the morphological and structural properties of the UHMWPE reactor powders are critical for efficient processing as well as the performance of the final product. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017