Polyolefins are the most important class of polymers which accounts for more than 50% of the plastic production. This field is still growing and new applications require novel or improved performances. An appropriate strategy consists in incorporating functional group in polyolefin backbone. Since the discovery of Ziegler-Natta catalysts, research efforts have been done on the copolymerization of olefins with butadiene. The introduction of olefinic unsaturations into the backbone of polyolefins is of interest for many applications, including the production of vulcanizable elastomers for the tire industry. However, as the two monomers polymerize according to different mechanisms, only a very limited number of catalysts are liable to copolymerize them successfully. While the insertion of butadiene is often limited with most catalytic systems designed for olefin polymerization, we showed that neodymium metallocene catalysts insert butadiene with good efficiency. In the present paper, we will present the discovery of the first catalysts for the copolymerization of ethylene and butadiene and the subsequent screening of neodymium metallocene complexes leading to the development of ethylene butadiene rubber (EBR). Theses copolymers feature unprecedented cyclohexane rings in the polymer backbone. These researches have been performed in the framework of a 30 years’ collaboration between the C2P2 laboratory and the tire company Michelin. Based on these successful interactions over the years, a joint laboratory ChemistLab (C2P2/ICBMS/Michelin), has been recently launched. Its focus is on new elastomers with original performances in order to address the challenge of sustainable mobility.

Copolymerization of ethylene with butadiene, a success story

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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