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

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.