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Achievement

Creation of catalysts that operate without MAO

Research Achievements

Creation of catalysts that operate without MAO

Most industrial catalysts for the polymerization of ethylene into polyethylene (a plastic) require large amounts of a co-catalyst, such as methylaluminoxane (MAO). MAO is used in up to a thousand-fold excess and contributes significantly to the price and energy consumption of plastic production. IGERT Fellow Andrew Patrick has synthesized molecular complexes of iron that act as single-component catalysts for ethylene polymerization. Not only do these catalysts operate without MAO, they use the most abundant transition metal, iron. Many iron-catalyzed ethylene polymerizations in industry are poorly understood, as excessive MAO obscures analysis. In contrast, single-component catalysts are amenable to study. Patrick is elucidating the inner-workings of the new catalysts through mechanistic work at Cornell and a collaboration with Prof. Karl Wieghardt in Mühlheim, Germany. Their goal is rational optimization of iron catalysts and ultimately more efficient polymer production.

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