title: Spherical Polyolefin Particles from Olefin Polymerization in the Confined Geometry of Porous Hollow Silica Particles.
abstract: Porous hollow silica particles (HSPs) are presented as new templates to control the product morphology in metallocene-catalyzed olefin polymerization. By selectively immobilizing catalysts inside the micrometer-sized porous hollow silica particles, the high hydraulic forces resulting from polymer growth within the confined geometries of the HSPs cause its supporting shell to break up from the inside. As the shape of the support is replicated during olefin polymerization, perfectly spherical product particles with very narrow size distribution can be achieved by using HSPs exhibiting a monomodal size distribution. Furthermore, the size of the obtained product particles can be controlled not only by the polymerization time but also by the size of the support material.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Freudensprung
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Daejune
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Joe
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nietzel
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vollmer
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany. klapper@mpip-mainz.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klapper
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
mesh_terms: D000475:Alkenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D011090:Polyenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000475:Alkenes; D011090:Polyenes; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; C035051:PL 732
keywords: homogeneous size distribution; metallocenes; morphology control; polyolefins; porous hollow silica particles