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The role of certain morphological properties of different silica used as supports for metallocene catalysts was investigated in order to quantify their eventual influence on the kinetics of ethylene polymerisation in heptane slurry, as well as on the polymer properties. It was shown that there is no clear link between porosity and observed activity with some highly porous silica producing relatively inactive supported catalysts. It was further shown that within a batch of silica, the particle size had a significant impact on observed kinetics. While it appears that there is possibly some diffusion resistance encountered in the larger particles, it was also shown that prolonged contact between the support and the alkylating agent could increase reaction rates in the larger particles.

The synthesis of lanthanide(III) alkoxides has been described as a series of reactions for which the control of product purity is difficult. The possibility of using amide complexes, in the presence of alcohol, to produce alkoxides was investigated in homogeneous and heterogeneous media. The polymerization of e-caprolactone with alkoxides formed in situ was performed with and without excess alcohol. The latter system was efficient since the polymers were obtained in a short time period, with a well-controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity. The alcohol functionalized all the polymer chains.