A New Challenger for Metallocenes?

A team of chemists from Imperial College in London and BP Chemicals in Surrey, England have discovered an iron-based catalyst system that could be used to make cheaper, cleaner polyethylenes. Professor Vernon Gibson, research team leader at Imperial College explained: “To work properly, metallocene catalysts still require similar amounts of aluminum co-catalyst to those used in the traditional (Ziegler-Natta) process. On the other hand, the new iron-based catalysts have the potential to do many of the things metallocenes do, but cheaper. They are also easier to prepare and because they need less aluminum co-catalyst, the polethylene they make is potentially cleaner.” Although Professor Gibson states that it is too early to predict commercialization of the process, patents have been filed on the work to date, and the Imperial College team has been expanded. More information may be found on the Web at : www.unifi.it/unifi/bag/eee/