In situ ATR-FTIR studies on MgCl2-diisobutyl phthalate interactions in thin film Ziegler-Natta catalysts

Tracing Poly(Vinyl Acetate) Emulsions by Infrared and Raman Spectroscopies: Identification of Spectral Markers

Vinyl emulsions started to be used by artists in paintings at least since the early 1960s, being now present in several artworks worldwide. However, different vinyl formulations can result in distinct behaviours over time, and if some artworks are currently showing a good condition, others already show damages due to the use of compositions more susceptible to degradation. For this reason, it is fundamental to identify the main components in the vinyl acetate-based (VAc-based) emulsion. This work focuses on the molecular study of VAc-based emulsions by infrared and Raman spectroscopies. It aims at deepening the knowledge on the variability of the composite formulation and on the identification of characteristic bands and spectral profiles (identified as spectral markers) for both polymer and additives. To this end, a broad set of vinyl emulsions was gathered, including reference materials, historical commercial brands in use by Portuguese artists, and commercial brands collected from industrial companies. The entire set includes vinyl homopolymers produced for the purpose of the study and known formulations of vinyl homopolymers and copolymers, with and without plasticisers, according to technical data sheets and previous studies. Furthermore, unknown formulations have been included to validate the usefulness of the identified spectral markers. This set has been studied in the form of solid films deposited in glass slides by infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflection mode (ATR-FTIR) and micro-Raman spectroscopy (µ-Raman), both conducted in situ. As conclusions, the combined use of ATR-FTIR and µ-Raman proved to be very useful as different spectral markers were detected by each technique, confirming their complementarity. Besides the clear identification of vinyl acetate-based emulsions by both techniques, it was also possible to suggest spectral markers for the copolymerisation of vinyl acetate with vinyl versatate by µ-Raman, the stabilisation of the emulsion with poly(vinyl alcohol) by ATR-FTIR, and the addition of phthalates or benzoates plasticisers by both ATR-FTIR and µ-Raman.

Heterogeneity in the Fragmentation of Ziegler Catalyst Particles during Ethylene Polymerization Quantified by X-ray Nanotomography

Ziegler-type catalysts are the grand old workhorse of the polyolefin industry, yet their hierarchically complex nature complicates polymerization activity-catalyst structure relationships. In this work, the degree of catalyst framework fragmentation of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Ziegler-type catalyst was studied using ptychography X-ray-computed nanotomography (PXCT) in the early stages of ethylene polymerization under mild reaction conditions. An ensemble consisting of 434 fully reconstructed ethylene prepolymerized Ziegler catalyst particles prepared at a polymer yield of 3.4 g HDPE/g catalyst was imaged. This enabled a statistical route to study the heterogeneity in the degree of particle fragmentation and therefore local polymerization activity at an achieved 3-D spatial resolution of 74 nm without requiring invasive imaging tools. To study the degree of catalyst fragmentation within the ensemble, a fragmentation parameter was constructed based on a k-means clustering algorithm that relates the quantity of polyethylene formed to the average size of the spatially resolved catalyst fragments. With this classification method, we have identified particles that exhibit weak, moderate, and strong degrees of catalyst fragmentation, showing that there is a strong heterogeneity in the overall catalyst particle fragmentation and thus polymerization activity within the entire ensemble. This hints toward local mass transfer limitations or other deactivation phenomena. The methodology used here can be applied to all polyolefin catalysts, including metallocene and the Phillips catalysts to gain statistically relevant fundamental insights in the fragmentation behavior of an ensemble of catalyst particles.

New Insight into Titanium-Magnesium Ziegler-Natta Catalysts Using Photoluminescence Spectroscopy

This paper presents the results of study of titanium-magnesium catalysts often used in polymerization processes, by photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) in combination with diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The interaction of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) with MgCl₂ was studied at DBP_added/Mg = 0-1 (mol/mol). The luminescence spectra with excitation at 278 nm and the excitation spectra for main emission bands were recorded. It was shown that DBP adsorbed on magnesium chloride, both in the form of donor-acceptor complexes (D⁺A^-) and in the form of molecular complexes. At DBP_added/Mg <0.15, the formation of D⁺A^- complexes occur predominantly; with an increase in DBP_added/Mg, the fraction of molecular complexes increases. Molecular complexes are destroyed during the treatment of the support by TiCl₄. In this case, the structure of magnesium chloride is disordered and new coordination-unsaturated sites are formed. This work is a first attempt to apply PL spectroscopy in combination with DRIFTS spectroscopy to study titanium-magnesium Ziegler-Natta catalysts. The application of PL spectroscopy to such systems made it possible to detect interactions within and between donor molecules, which would be particularly challenging to achieve using other spectroscopic methods. Both spectroscopic methods provided crucial information about the existence of two types of complexes on the sample surface which is important for tuning the synthesis procedure of the titanium-magnesium catalysts for olefin polymerization.

Structural Disorder of Mechanically Activated δ-MgCl2 Studied by Synchrotron X-ray Total Scattering and Vibrational Spectroscopy

A combination of synchrotron X-ray total scattering and molecular simulation is a powerful approach for reliable determination of the structure of δ-MgCl2 as an indispensable component of heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalysts. Here, the same approach is applied to mechanically activated MgCl2. Four types of mechanically activated MgCl2 samples are prepared using ball-milling in the absence and presence of different donors. The development of structural disorder along the grinding time is compared. It was found that the presence of donors accelerates the formation of δ-MgCl2 in an early stage of grinding, while elongated grinding eventually results in δ-MgCl2 with similar extents of structural disorder in the absence and presence of different donors. The FT-IR investigation consistently verified the morphological similarity between the firmly ground samples. Thus, the structure of δ-MgCl2 is likely governed by mechanical energy when sufficiently ground.

Adsorption of Titanium Tetrachloride on Magnesium Dichloride Clusters

Magnesium dichloride and titanium tetrachloride are key components in heterogeneous Ziegler-Natta olefin polymerization catalysis. We have determined the preferred binding modes of titanium tetrachloride on magnesium dichloride clusters at the M06-2X level of theory, thus accounting for dispersion. A systematic study was carried out to locate the lowest energy isomers of (MgCl₂) _n (TiCl₄) _m complexes. Altogether ca. 1000 complexes with n ranging from 1 to 19 and m from 1 to 13 were studied. In line with the previous literature, the results consistently show that adsorption of TiCl₄ onto MgCl₂ preferably leads to octahedral six-coordination for both Mg and Ti atoms. This can be achieved by mononuclear binding of TiCl₄ and binuclear binding of Ti₂Cl₈ on (110) and (104) surfaces of MgCl₂, respectively. The preferred octahedral six-coordination is also achieved by binding of TiCl₄ on defect sites, of which the most striking example is trinuclear binding mode at corners of the clusters. Overall, the results highlight the relevance of multinuclear binding of TiCl₄ on MgCl₂.

Structural Characterization of Electron Donors in Ziegler-Natta Catalysts

Ziegler-Natta catalysis is a very important industrial process for the production of polyolefins. However, the catalysts are not well-understood at the molecular level. Yet, atomic-scale structural information is of pivotal importance for rational catalyst development. We applied a solid-state NMR/density functional theory tandem approach to gain detailed insight into the interactions between the catalysts' support, MgCl₂, and organic electron donors. Because of the heterogeneity of the samples, large line widths are observed in the carbon spectra. Despite this, good agreement between experimental and computational values was reached, and this shows that 1,3-diether based donors coordinate at (110) surface sites, while phthalates are less selective and coordinate at both (104) and (110) surface sites.

Crystalline magnesium chloride-electron donor complexes: new support materials for Ziegler-Natta catalysts

In this study, crystalline magnesium chloride-electron donor complexes were prepared by recrystallization of δ-MgCl₂ in the presence of chelating electron donors, including two diethers (1,2-dimethoxyethane; DME and 1,3-dimethoxypropane; DMP) and one diamine (N,N'-diethylethylenediamine; DEEDA). The syntheses and crystal structures of such magnesium chloride complexes with chelating ligands have been rarely reported, even though they can provide important information for the selection of electron donors for stereoselective MgCl₂-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts. The synthesized complexes were characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and FTIR and CP/MAS ¹³C NMR spectroscopy methods. A polymeric complex [MgCl₂(DME)]_n and molecular complexes [Mg₂Cl₄(DMP)₂(H₂O)] and [MgCl₂(DEEDA)₂] were formed in recrystallizations. In all complexes, the bidentate electron donors are bound in chelate binding mode. The [MgCl₂(DME)]_n complex, the structure of which consists of a helical polymeric MgCl₂ backbone chain and one DME molecule coordinated to each Mg atom, can be considered as a structural model for layered MgCl₂. The crystal structure of the [Mg₂Cl₄(DMP)₂(H₂O)] complex is composed of a tetrahedral Mg atom with four Cl ligands and a distorted octahedral Mg atom with two DMP molecules, one water molecule, and one Cl ligand. The two types of Mg atoms are connected to each other with a bridging Cl ligand. In the [MgCl₂(DEEDA)₂] complex, magnesium is octahedrally coordinated by two chloride ligands trans to each other and two DEEDA molecules. The structures of the obtained magnesium chloride-electron donor complexes clearly show how diether and diamine electron donors can dictate the crystal structure of MgCl₂.

Accurate experimental and theoretical enthalpies of association of TiCl4 with typical Lewis bases used in heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalysis

The enthalpy of association of Lewis bases with TiCl₄ is analyzed using experimental and computational techniques.