Accelerating the Research Approach to Ziegler Natta Catalysts
Despite 60 years of history and a stunning success, Ti based Ziegler Natta catalysts for the production of isotactic polypropylene remain black box systems, and progress still relies on trial and error. This represents a limitation in a moment when the most widely used industrial systems, containing phthalates as selective modifiers, need to be replaced because of a recent REACH ban. In view of the great complexity of the chemical and physical variables and the heavy nonlinearity of their effects, a high /medium throughput approach to this catalysis is highly desirable; herein we introduce an integrated medium throughput workflow spanning from propene polymerization to polypropylene microstructural characterization and combining a 102 fold throughput intensification with quality standards equal or higher than conventional methods.