稀土三元催化体系ZnO/SiO2负载化及季铵盐催化CO2与环氧丙烷合成高分子量聚碳酸酯

由环氧丙烷(PO)和CO2交替共聚合成脂肪族聚碳酸亚丙酯,CO2利用率高, 所得产物具有一定的力学性能和生物降解性能, 具有广泛应用前景. 目前, 用于CO2和环氧化合物共聚的催化体系主要包含锌、钴、镉、铬、铝和稀土等金属活性中心, 结构、活性各异的催化剂体系, 其催化性能和产物性能也各具特色. 其中, 稀土三元催化剂(ZnEt2-甘油-三氯乙酸钇)因合成聚碳酸酯产物的分子量高、碳酸酯单元含量高、聚醚及环碳酸酯副产物少的特点而受到关注. 但是由于催化剂催化效率低, 聚合时间长, 产品成本高, 使得工业化规模生产受到限制.本文基于稀土三元催化体系, 将催化剂负载于硅胶及锌改性硅胶, 优化了其制备条件, 同时考察了添加季铵盐对催化CO2/环氧丙烷共聚合成聚碳酸酯性能的影响. 结果表明, 在1 L聚合釜中, 于3.5 MPa和70 oC反应条件下, ZnO担载量及ZnO/SiO2添加量对反应性能均有影响. 当3 wt% ZnO/SiO2的添加量为5 g时, 稀土三元催化体系的活性为4845.2 g/molZn..所得聚合物经过多次纯化处理后, 能够有效提高材料的热学性能, 即有效除去产物中的ZnO对聚合物的热稳定性有重要作用. 添加含有不同阴离子(F- , Cl- 和Br- )的季铵盐可显著影响稀土三元催化剂的活性. 其中, 仅四甲基氟化铵可以明显提高反应活性乃至聚合物分子量. 在3 wt% ZnO/SiO2载体和四甲基氟化铵的协同作用下, 稀土三元催化体系的共聚性能明显提 升, 活性最高可达5223.0 g/molZn. 聚合物结构分析表明, 在载体和四甲基氟化铵存在下, 聚合物分子量明显提高, 可达到20万以上, 分子量分布明显变窄, 且聚合物结构如碳酸酯的单元含量、副产物含量以及聚合物产品玻璃化温度基本不变, 后者均保持在40-41 ?C. 基于此, 我们提出了在ZnO改性硅胶载体及四甲基氟化铵存在下稀土三元催化体系催化CO2/环氧丙烷共聚的反应机理: ZnO/SiO2载体有利于稀土三元催化体系的分散, 而四甲基氟化铵则有利于吸附在ZnEt2上的环氧丙烷开环.

ZnO/SiO2-modified rare-earth-metal ternary catalyst bearing quaternary ammonium salts for synthesis of high molecular weight poly(propylene carbonate)

A modified rare-earth-metal catalyst system combined with quaternary ammonium salts (QASs) as cocatalysts was investigated in the alternating copolymerization of CO2/propylene oxide (PO) to produce poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC). In the presence of ZnO/SiO2, the ZnEt2-glycerine-Y(CCl3OO)3 catalyst presented higher activity for CO2/PO copolymerization, as well as a higher mo-lecular weight of polycarbonate, while maintaining the high carbonate content originating from the neat ZnEt2-glycerine-Y(CCl3OO)3 catalyst. In the presence of QASs bearing different halide anions (F-, Cl-, and Br-), the type of the halide anion had a strong influence on the activity of the catalyst for CO2/PO alternating copolymerization. Only tetramethylammonium fluoride (TMAF) could promote the alternating copolymerization without increasing the by-product. Combined the ZnO/SiO2 cata-lyst and TMAF, the catalytic activity for CO2/PO polymerization increased dramatically compared to the basic ternary catalyst system. The improved catalyst system produced a polymer with a high carbonate unit level equivalent to that of the polycarbonate produced by the basic ZnEt2-glycerine-Y(CCl3OO)3 catalyst system.