SBIR Phase II: Commercially Viable Ton-Scale Production of Stereoblock Polypropylene Thermoplastic Elastomers and XPURE? Oils

该小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是使用Precision Polyolefins，LLC（PPL）的转型“活性配位链转移聚合”（LCCTP）技术，从易得、廉价和可再生的化学原料生产新型聚烯烃，并可用于制造具有上级性能的消费品，以造福社会。 更具体地，作为粘合剂和添加剂市场中技术上低劣的聚烯烃的替代品的结构上良好限定的（精确的）聚烯烃（包括立构嵌段聚丙烯（sbPP）热塑性弹性体）的商业生产将用于利用廉价丙烯在北美日益增长的市场地位。 LCCTP等新技术的开发将帮助美国重新获得其在新型聚烯烃基材料的发现和商业化方面的世界领先地位，从而为美国经济的未来健康和增长做出贡献。 拟议的第二阶段研究项目的目标是解决对新的商业聚合物的需求，以应对不断增长的消费者需求，缓慢的工业反应，以及有限的化学原料池，这些原料具有高价格和供应波动性，可以制造它们。 目前的项目将寻求开发基于活性配位链转移聚合（LCCTP）技术的商业可行工艺，以提供广泛的结构明确的聚烯烃，这些聚烯烃相对于现有产品具有上级性能。 通过对聚合催化剂结构/性能关系进行深入研究，该项目将寻求优化催化剂活性和热稳定性。 与放大工艺开发相一致，这种催化剂优化将导致降低材料和加工成本，以及具有上级性能特征的具有价格竞争力的聚烯烃产品组合。 优化放大工艺的验证将通过用于粘合剂和添加剂市场的立构嵌段聚丙烯（sbPP）热塑性弹性体以及用于化妆品、润滑剂和粘合剂市场的低分子量专有油的吨级生产来实现。 预期的结果是，商业上相关的（1千吨）体积的sbPP热塑性弹性体和专有油可以作为技术和商业上可行的产品制造。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is to use the transformational "living coordinative chain transfer polymerization" (LCCTP) technology of Precision Polyolefins, LLC (PPL) to produce new classes of polyolefins from readily available, inexpensive, and renewable chemical feedstocks and that can be used in the manufacturing of consumer products with superior performance to the benefit of society. More specifically, the commercial production of structurally-well-defined (precise) polyolefins, including stereoblock polypropylene (sbPP) thermoplastic elastomers, as replacements for technologically inferior polyolefins in adhesive and additives markets will serve to capitalize on the increasingly advantaged position of inexpensive propylene in the North America. The development of new technologies, such as LCCTP, will help the U.S. to regain its position as a world-leader in the discovery and commercialization of new polyolefin-based materials, and thereby, contribute to the future health and growth of the U.S. economy. The objectives of the proposed Phase II research project are to address the needs for new commercial polymers against a back-drop of ever increasing consumer demand, a sluggish industrial response, and a limited pool of chemical feedstocks possessing high price and supply volatility from which they can be manufactured. The current project will seek to develop commercially-viable processes based on a living coordinative chain transfer polymerization (LCCTP) technology to provide a broad range of structurally-well-defined polyolefins that possess with superior properties relative to existing products. By conducting an in-depth investigation of polymerization catalyst structure / property relationships, the project will seek to optimize catalyst activity and thermal stability. In concert with scale-up process development, this catalyst optimization will lead to reduced material and processing costs, and a product portfolio of competitively-priced polyolefins with superior performance characteristics. Validation of an optimized scale-up process will be achieved through the ton-scale production of stereoblock polypropylene (sbPP) thermoplastic elastomers, for adhesive and additive markets, and low molecular weight proprietary oils, for cosmetics, lubricants, and adhesives markets. The anticipated result is that commercially relevant ( 1 kiloton) volumes of sbPP thermoplastic elastomers and proprietary oils can be manufactured as technologically and commercially viable products.