Florian P. Wimmer, Viktoria Ebel, Felix Schmidt and Stefan Mecking
Polym. Chem., 2021,12, 3116-3123
DOI:
10.1039/D1PY00394A,
Paper
Catalytic copolymerization with functional group tolerant lipophilic Ni(II) catalysts in aqueous emulsion-type polymerization or dispersion polymerization in organic solvents (THF, n-heptane) yields ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) as submicron- or micron-sized, respectively, particles. Precise multiblock copolymers with crystallizable C46 polyethylene blocks and amorphous soluble polybutene blocks, as well as a random ethylene-octene copolymer with similar block lengths were suitable for particle stabilization in the organic dispersion polymerizations.