Welcome to the Web site of LSP (Research Group of Prof. Vincenzo Busico)

The Laboratory of Stereoselective Polymerizations (LSP) is a research structure of the Department of Chemical Sciences, Federico II University of Naples (Italy). LSP is directed by Prof. Vincenzo Busico and specializes in the fundamental and applied study of polyolefin chemistry and catalysis. LSP is also a Research Partner of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI, one of the Top Technology Institutes in The Netherlands, for which Prof. Busico serves as the Scientific Chairman of the Polyolefin Technology Area), and a Research Unit of the Italian National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology (INSTM, the largest of its kind in Italy, federating all Knowledge Institutes with research programs in Materials Science and Technology).

Polyolefins (namely polyethylene, polypropylene and copolymers thereof) are useful plastics and elastomers, whose giant molecules result from the precision enchainment of thousands of ethylene and propylene units. The scale of this industrial transformation is huge (more than 150 million tons per year). In fact, dear Visitor, even if you are not a chemist and do not know much about all this, you certainly use a variety of polyolefin based products every day (from humble polyethylene bags to sophisticated items in polypropylene like the pedestrian-friendly fender of your new BMW X6 SUV – because you do own one, don’t you?…)

In spite of the reputation to be a mature area, catalytic olefin polymerization continues to produce scientific and industrial breakthroughs at a surprising pace. As a matter of fact, the Polyolefin Technology Area is the largest and busiest in the DPI. The massive introduction of High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) technologies has accelerated the innovation process even further.

LSP wants to be at the heart of the polyolefin catalysis scene, with state-of-the-art research programs and more. The latest achievements in the field are reviewed periodically in dedicated international forums (‘Blue Sky  Conferences  on  Catalytic  Olefin  Polymerization’)  organized  by  LSP  in  collaboration  with  the  DPI. ‘HTExplore’, a recently constituted spin-off company, completes the portfolio of LSP with high-tech HTE services for polyolefin catalyst and process fine-tuning and optimization.

If you like, learn more about us and our work by visiting this site. We wish you a pleasant tour!