Methods and systems for synthesis of an ultra high molecular weight polymer

1. A method to synthesize an ultra-high molecular weight polymer, the method comprising:

combining an ethylene monomer, an additive, and a catalyst suitable for polymerization of monomers with a solvent in a mixture comprising a liquid phase,

wherein

the additive is a colloidal stabilizer capable of a crystal forming interaction with a nascent polymer comprising the monomer, the colloidal stabilizer comprising a solvophilic portion soluble in the solvent and a crystalphilic portion capable of interacting with the polymer to form a co-crystal comprising the polymer and the crystalphilic portion;

the additive being chemically inert with respect to the catalyst, the monomers, the nascent polymer and the ultra-high molecular weight polymer; and

the combining is performed in the liquid phase for a time and under conditions to allow synthesis of the nascent polymer, and co-crystallization of the nascent polymer with the additive thereby resulting in a colloidal suspension of the ultra-high molecular weight polymer comprising detectable crystals.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising separating the solvent from the colloidal suspension and collecting the ultra-high molecular weight polymer at a desired concentration.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the separating is performed by filtering the colloidal suspension and collecting a solid filtrate, the solid filtrate comprising the polymer.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is a compound of formula

-[(crystal forming moiety) n x -(colloid stabilizing moiety) n s ] M ;

where n x ≧, n s ≧, M≧1, in any statistical distribution.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is a compound of formula

(A) n A -(B) n B M

wherein A is a solvophilic block; B is a crystalphilic block and M is any positive integer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein A is a moiety of formula

wherein a is a monomer repeating units of A, where n y is any positive integer.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a is a compound produced by polymerizing a compound a′ of formulas

wherein R is independently selected from the group consisting of C 0 to C 10 branched or unbranched alkyl, phenyl, aryl, alkoxy, thiol, thioether, amino, and alkylamino groups.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein B is a moiety of formula

wherein b is a monomer repeating unit of B, where n z is any positive integer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein b is a compound produced by polymerizing a compound b′ of formulas

wherein R is independently selected from the group consisting of C 0 to C 10 branched or unbranched alkyl, phenyl, aryl, alkoxy, thiol, thioether, amino, and alkylamino groups.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the additive is selected from the group consisting of: block copolymer, graft copolymer, statistical copolymer and gradient copolymer.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is comprised in the mixture at a concentration of about 1% by weight or less with respect to the solvent.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst is a group 4 metal phenoxyimine complex.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is a copolymer comprising ethylene and an alpha olefin containing 8 or fewer carbons.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the additive is an ethylene-co-butene copolymer.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is a copolymer comprising ethylene and a polar comonomer such as methyl acrylate.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the additive is a copolymer of ethylene and a higher alpha olefin.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the co-crystallization of the additive and the nascent polymer spontaneously forms a colloidal stabilizing layer that delays aggregation or precipitation for a set amount of time.