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

这个小企业创新研究二期项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使用精密聚烯烃有限责任公司（PPL）的转型“活协调链转移聚合”（LCCTP）技术，从现成的、廉价的和可再生的化学原料中生产新型聚烯烃，并可用于制造性能优越的消费品，造福社会。更具体地说，包括立体嵌段聚丙烯（sbPP）热塑性弹性体在内的结构明确（精确）聚烯烃的商业化生产，作为粘合剂和添加剂市场上技术较差的聚烯烃的替代品，将有助于利用北美廉价丙烯日益有利的地位。新技术的发展，如LCCTP，将帮助美国在新型聚烯烃基材料的发现和商业化方面重新获得世界领先地位，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型商业聚合物的需求，以应对不断增长的消费者需求下降，工业反应迟缓，以及有限的化学原料池，这些原料具有高价格和供应波动，可以制造它们。目前的项目将寻求基于活的配位链转移聚合（LCCTP）技术开发商业上可行的工艺，以提供一系列结构明确的聚烯烃，这些聚烯烃具有相对于现有产品的优越性能。通过对聚合催化剂结构/性能关系的深入研究，该项目将寻求优化催化剂活性和热稳定性。与规模化工艺开发相一致，这种催化剂优化将降低材料和加工成本，并获得具有优越性能特征的具有价格竞争力的聚烯烃产品组合。通过吨级生产用于粘合剂和添加剂市场的立体嵌段聚丙烯（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，将验证优化的放大工艺。预期的结果是，商业相关（1千吨）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生产出来。

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.