Abstract: The copolymers of ethylene and vinyltriethoxy-silane (VTEoS) can be prepared by a series of α-diimide nickel catalysts with different structures under the activation of EASC via coordination copolymerization method. In this paper, the effects of VTEoS concentration, catalyst dosage, Al/Ni molar ratio, ethylene pressure, polymerization time, solvents and catalyst structure on copolymerization were studied, and the optimal polymerization conditions were obtained. The copolymer structure, thermal stability, the content of silicon in the copolymer and the surface property of the E/VTEoS copolymer film were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR), Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), baking and contact angle of the film. The results show that the highest catalytic activity reaches to 9.10 × 10⁵ g/(mol·h) with C4 as catalyst in methylene chloride, the mass content of silicon in the copolymers are in the range of 0.74%~3.39%. Introducing silicon-containing monomer into polyethylene chains can enhance the thermal stability and the hydrophobic of the corresponding copolymer film.