Polymer Identification and Optimal Materials Selection Services Offered by ipolytech

Using the wrong type of plastic for a particular product can be an expensive and sometimes dangerous mistake to make. Although many plastics may look and feel the same, particularly before moulding, using a material which is either the wrong polymer type or has been incorrectly formulated may result in catastrophic failure.

Polymer Identification

ipolytech selects appropriate tests to determine the generic type of the polymer, usually by determining the types of chemical functional groups it contains and sometimes also by characterising its melting or softening temperatures.

Techniques ipolytech commonly use include:

• Infrared spectroscopy including IR micro-spectroscopy
• Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
• Optical Microscope (including polarised light and hotstage microscopy)

Materials Selection Services

On many occasions, plastic and rubber products contain various additives to control the properties of the polymer or to aid in the production of the parts. Materials such as fillers, pigments, flame-retardants, plasticisers, stabilisers etc. are commonly used and control of such additives is crucial to service performance.

Our chemical analysis laboratory uses a number of techniques to provide rapid identification of polymer type and the additives package used in commercial polymer grades to:

• Check materials supplied against specification
• Identify constituents of recyclate stock
• Analyse contaminants present in raw materials
• Detect degradation within components
• Evaluate competitor’s products

Source: ipolytech

For more information on this source, please visit ipolytech