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Morphology and Thermal Characteristics of Polyethylene Nanocomposites Made Using Montmorillonite‐Supported Cp 2 ZrCl 2 and Ni‐Diimine Precatalysts
Author(s) -
Shin SangYoung A.,
Simon Leonardo C.,
Soares João B. P.,
Scholz Günter,
McKenna Timothy F.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
macromolecular reaction engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1862-8338
pISSN - 1862-832X
DOI - 10.1002/mren.200900038
Subject(s) - montmorillonite , exfoliation joint , materials science , nanocomposite , differential scanning calorimetry , polyethylene , intercalation (chemistry) , polymer chemistry , scanning electron microscope , transmission electron microscopy , polymerization , zirconium , polymer , chemical engineering , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , nanotechnology , graphene , physics , engineering , thermodynamics , metallurgy
Bis(cyclopentadienyl)‐zirconium dichloride (Cp 2 ZrCl 2 ) and (1,4‐bis(2,6‐diisopropylphenyl)‐acenaphthenediimine) dichloronickel (Ni‐diimine) were supported on montmorillonite (MMT) pretreated with triisobutylaluminum and 10‐undecence‐1‐ol to produce in situ polyethylene–clay nanocomposites in a gas‐phase reactor. The development of the nanocomposite morphology was investigated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. During polymerization, the MMT layers were partially exfoliated by the growing polymer chains, starting from the openings of the clay galleries, but intercalation and exfoliation occurred only to a certain extent. The thermal properties of the nanocomposites we also analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).