What if a machine could suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, run it through a series of chemical reactions, and essentially spit out industrially useful plastic?

Ethylene polymerization, a common way to produce polyethylene, is a typical chain polymerization reaction that includes the fundamental steps of chain initiation, propagation, and termination.

For instance, free-radical polymerization of ethylene creates the molecule’s largest-volume derivative, polyethylene, which is used in plastic bags and packaging.

Figure 1. Influence of Al / Zr ratio in ethylene homopolymerization activity. Polymerization reactions performed in toluene under 1 atm of ethylene at 333 K with [Zr] = 10-5 mol ⋅ L-1 (nBuCp) 2 ZrCl 2 ...

This unique catalyst provides a single polymerization site instead of the multiple sites of conventional catalysts and provides the capability to tailor the molecular architecture of ethylene ...

Synthesis of PEGPEG can be synthesized via anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide and any hydroxyl initiators. Hydroxyl group could be from water or ethylene glycol or any diols. They can also be ...