Synthesis of precision polymers on a large scale

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While polyethylene catalysis is a mature field, global needs for stronger, lighter materials and growth in polyethylene demand drives ongoing innovation in product design. Such ongoing innovation has enabled, and continues to enable, the replacement of heavier materials with (such as glass and cardboard) in product packaging, thereby offering a significant environmental advantage in terms of fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gases in product transport. Furthermore, not all plastic food packaging is currently recyclable due to the need to mix polyolefin materials with other materials to create good barrier properties and keep food fresh. Enhanced control over polyethylene structure and co-monomer incorporation into the polymer backbone, are expected to lead to vastly improved rheological and mechanical polymer properties. Such improvements could be used to produce multifunctional polyolefins that are also 100% recyclable. This would have a tremendous effect on reducing the amount of material going into landfills and would reduce the amount of virgin plastic resin needed by allowing recycling of existing material. In this project, we aim to use step-wise oligomer synthesis to make materials with highly controlled polymer structures so that we can investigate their performance. If successful, it could be envisaged that a longer collaboration be engaged in between NOVA Chemicals and the scientists at Université de Sherbrooke to prepare such products by economically viable routes.