Adv Polym Sci (2013) 257: 135–202
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_222
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 7 July 2013
Phillips Cr/Silica Catalyst for Ethylene
Polymerization
Ruihua Cheng, Zhen Liu, Lei Zhong, Xuelian He, Pengyuan Qiu,
Minoru Terano, Moris S. Eisen, Susannah L. Scott, and Boping Liu
Abstract The Phillips Cr/silica catalyst, discovered by Hogan and Banks at the
Phillips Petroleum Company in the early 1950s, is one of the most important
industrial catalysts for polyethylene production. In contrast to its great commercial
success during the past half-century, academic progress regarding a basic understanding of the nature of the active sites and polymerization mechanisms is lagging
far behind. During the last decade, increasing research efforts have been performed
on the Phillips catalyst through various approaches, including spectroscopic
methods, polymerization kinetics, heterogeneous model catalysts, homogeneous
model catalysts, and molecular modeling. Much deeper mechanistic understanding,
together with successive catalyst innovations through modifications of the Phillips
catalyst, has been achieved.
Keywords Ethylene polymerization mechanisms Á Heterogeneous model catalysts Á
Homogeneous model catalysts Á Molecular modeling Á Phillips Cr/silica catalyst Á
Polyethylene Á Polymerization kinetics
R. Cheng, Z. Liu, L. Zhong, X. He, P. Qiu, and B. Liu (*)
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science
and Technology, Meilong Road 130, Shanghai 200237, PR China
e-mail: boping@ecust.edu.cn
M. Terano
School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
M.S. Eisen
Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City,
Haifa 32000, Israel
S.L. Scott
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
93106-5080, USA
DOI: 10.1007/12_2013_222
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Published online: 7 July 2013
Phillips Cr/Silica Catalyst for Ethylene
Polymerization
Ruihua Cheng, Zhen Liu, Lei Zhong, Xuelian He, Pengyuan Qiu,
Minoru Terano, Moris S. Eisen, Susannah L. Scott, and Boping Liu
Abstract The Phillips Cr/silica catalyst, discovered by Hogan and Banks at the
Phillips Petroleum Company in the early 1950s, is one of the most important
industrial catalysts for polyethylene production. In contrast to its great commercial
success during the past half-century, academic progress regarding a basic understanding of the nature of the active sites and polymerization mechanisms is lagging
far behind. During the last decade, increasing research efforts have been performed
on the Phillips catalyst through various approaches, including spectroscopic
methods, polymerization kinetics, heterogeneous model catalysts, homogeneous
model catalysts, and molecular modeling. Much deeper mechanistic understanding,
together with successive catalyst innovations through modifications of the Phillips
catalyst, has been achieved.
Keywords Ethylene polymerization mechanisms Á Heterogeneous model catalysts Á
Homogeneous model catalysts Á Molecular modeling Á Phillips Cr/silica catalyst Á
Polyethylene Á Polymerization kinetics
R. Cheng, Z. Liu, L. Zhong, X. He, P. Qiu, and B. Liu (*)
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science
and Technology, Meilong Road 130, Shanghai 200237, PR China
e-mail: boping@ecust.edu.cn
M. Terano
School of Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
1-1 Asahidai, Nomi, Ishikawa 923-1292, Japan
M.S. Eisen
Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City,
Haifa 32000, Israel
S.L. Scott
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
93106-5080, USA