POLYMERIZATION OF STYRENE WITH NICKEL ACETYLACETONATE AND METHYLALUMOXANE CATALYST

Polymerization of styrene (St) with nickel acetylacetonate [Ni(acac)(2)] and methylalumoxane (MAO) catalyst was investigated. It was found that the Ni(acac)(2)-MAO catalyst showed a high catalytic activity for the polymerization of St. From a kinetic study, the polymerization rate (R(p)) can be expressed by R(p) = k[St](2.0)[Ni(acac)(2)-MAO](0.75). The overall activation energy for the polymerization was determined to be 23.4 kJ/mol. The polymers were found to be rich in isotactic sequence. From ESR study, it was assumed that the active sites for the polymerization involve the Ni(I) complex.