01673nas a2200109   4500008004100000245006400041210006400105260000800169520126100177100002401438856010101462       2017                        eng d00aZiegler–Natta polymerization and the remaining challenges0 aZiegler–Natta polymerization and the remaining challenges  cNOV3 aPolymers have become indispensable in the 21st century, and
today we cannot imagine life without them. However, till
around the beginning of the last century, the science of polymers
was considered a very primitive discipline, and majority
of the scientific community did not believe that polymers even
existed. Hermann Staudinger, among others, fought a long
battle to convince the scientific community that polymers are
real and that they are long chain molecular entities. Building
on this rational bedrock of polymer science, Prof. Karl
Ziegler laid the foundation of ethylene polymerization. As
outlined by Dr. Sivaram in his articles on Ziegler and Natta,
careful observations and systematic analyses of serendipitous
results enabled Ziegler to deveop the enormously significant
‘Mulheim atmospheric polyethylene process’. A decade later, ¨
Cossee and Arlman revealed the mechanism of this polymerization
reaction, which is called ‘insertion polymerization’.
Insertion polymerization is popularly known as the ‘Ziegler–
Natta polymerization’, in recognition of its founding fathers.
Today, the world produces about 180 million tons of polyolefins
annually, and polyethylene or polythene has become a
household name.1 aChikkali, Samir, H.  uhttps://library.ncl.res.in/content/ziegler%E2%80%93natta-polymerization-and-remaining-challenges