Nanofibers of polyethylene produced by SBA-15 supported zirconium catalyst [N-(3-tert-butylsalicylidene)-4′-allyloxylanilinato]2Zr(IV)Cl2

Ethylene polymerization was carried out with the zirconium catalyst bis[N-(3-tert-buttylsalicylidene)-4′-allyloxylanilinato] zirconium(IV) dichloride supported on SBA-15, which had a uniform hexagonal array of linear channels, with MAO (methylalumoxane) as the cocatalyst. Both the molecular weight and melting point of the obtained polymers were much higher, compared with the polyethylene produced by its homogeneous counterpart. This observation indicates that the mesoporous zeolite SBA-15 can effectively control the direction and dimension of the growth of polymers in the process of polymerization, yielding polymers with improved properties. Nanofibrous polyethylene was also obtained under polymerization conditions with the use of this supported catalyst.