Isoprene polymerization using heterogeneous neodymium catalysts supported by a polysiloxane covered nanodiamonds.

We report new method of isoprene heterogeneous polymerization utilizing late lanthanide based catalyst and supported by a polysiloxane covered nanoparticles (nanodiamonds). The corresponding heterogeneous neodymium catalysts demonstrated superior properties in isoprene polymerization giving one and a half times higher molecular weight of resulting polymers comparing to homogeneous polymerization using the same catalyst. The part of cis-1,4 units in resulting polymers is up to 97.5%. Importantly, this strategy can achieve polymer nanocomposites with excellent distribution of nanofillers and satisfactory mechanical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]