Copolymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene with supported metallocene catalysts: Effect of support treatment

The effect of different catalyst support treatments in the 1-hexene/ethylene copolymerization with supported metallocene catalysts was investigated through the analysis of molecular weight and chemical composition distributions by means of high temperature gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF). The molecular weight distributions of all copolymers are narrow, indicating a uniform catalyst site. However, with respect to chemical composition distribution, some supported catalysts show broad and sometimes bimodal distributions, which indicates the presence of two or more active site types.