Abstract

Catalysts of the Ziegler–Natta (ZN) type are the main systems used in the production of polyolefins, being of great interest in the scientific and industrial field, this is why in this work catalysts of the TiCl4/FeCl3/MgCl2.SiCl4–n(OC6H13)n type were synthesized, where the % w/w of the iron salt was varied. The catalysts were characterized by UV–visible and X–ray fluorescence techniques, with which the modification of MgCl2 and the corresponding impregnation with the titanium salt could be confirmed. Likewise, these were evaluated with aluminum alkyls (TEA and TIBA), proving to be efficient only with TEA in a range of molar ratios studied from 100 to 400. The bimetal catalyst with the greatest amount of iron in its support (B–Fe25), showed superior activities with regard to the ones shown by a conventional catalyst, on the other hand, the one with the lowest content of supported iron (C–Fe5), was less active compared to its B–Fe25 counterpart. In order to know the effect of the reaction medium, the catalytic behavior of toluene, n–hexane and isooctane was studied, the latter being the most suitable. The synthesized polymers were characterized by viscosimetry, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy.