(130d) Synthesis of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polymer in a Catalytic Nanotube Polymerization Reactor

Nanofibers of syndiotactic polystyrene have been synthesized in a metallocene catalyst-anchored silica nanotube reactor (SNTR) in an porous alumina template. Very thin sPS nanofibrils (< 10 nm) grown at the catalytic sites on the pore walls aggregate to form intertwined, rope-like nanofibrils with 30-50 nm diameters, which further intertwine into even larger 200-nm diameter polymer nanofibrils. The extrusion of nanofibrils synthesized inside the SNTR was directly observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the individual SNTR containing a single polymer nanofibril was separated and observed by transmission electron microscopy. The syndiotactic polystyrene produced in the SNTR is a delta-form crystal polymer and it has very high molecular weight including a large fraction of 2,000,000 - 5,000,000 g/mol molecular weight and higher crystalline melting point than the sPS synthesized over homogeneous or silica-supported metallocene catalysts.