From the Back Cover
The book provides chemists, engineers, and students an introduction to the essentials of industrial polypropylene--what it is, how it's made, the markets it serves, and its environmental fate.
Crystalline polypropylene was discovered in the early 1950s and commercial production began in 1957 in Italy, Germany, and the USA. Since then, polypropylene has become among the most important synthetic polymers with about 48 million metric tons manufactured globally per year representing some 25 percent of the global consumption of plastic.
As the intent of Introduction to Industrial Polypropylene is to provide chemists, engineers, and students an introduction to the essentials of industrial polypropylene, technical aspects are described in a straightforward way with minimal discussion of esoteric theory such that a person with a modicum of training in chemistry should be able to grasp the concept. The authors present practical, down-to-earth interpretations of polypropylene technology. Another key objective of this text is to put into perspective recent innovations in the polypropylene industry, in particular single site catalysts and the cascade processes and what part they are playing in the polyolefins industry.
The authors have constructed the text so that it will be useful as a complement to college courses on polymer chemistry. Each of the thirteen chapters has an extensive questions and answers section that reinforces the central points discussed in the chapter.
Specifically, this book elucidates:
- Ziegler-Natta catalysts
- Propylene polymerization catalysts
- Single site catalysts and cocatalysts
- Polypropylene manufacturing and processing
- Catalysts synthesis in the laboratory
- Testing
- Various downstream aspects of industrial polypropylene such as biopolymers alternatives and additives.
Dennis B. Malpass received his PhD in organometallic chemistry from The University of Tennessee in 1970 and began his career with Texas Alkyls, Inc. (now AkzoNobel). His industrial career spanned thirty-three years working on synthesis, characterization, and applications of metal alkyls, especially aluminum alkyls in Ziegler-Natta polymerization of olefins. He has more than eighty patents and publications and now consults in the polyolefins industry. He also teaches organic chemistry and is an instructor for continuing education courses for SPE and ACS. In 2010 he authored Introduction to Industrial Polyethylene.
Elliot I. Band received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Cornell University in 1980. He has been in research and development with AkzoNobel and its predecessor companies for over thirty years. His tenure includes twenty years in Ziegler-Natta catalyst synthesis, manufacture, quality control, and technical support to polypropylene manufacturers in North and South America. He presently manages a group of chemists and engineers that develops new cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants for AkzoNobel. Elliot has thirty publications and more than twenty patents.
