Identifying the chemical composition of your raw material and products

Given the wide range of polymers and polymer blends onthe market today, it is often necessary to know what type of polymer is in aproduct, as different polymers provide different mechanical, chemical, physicaland thermal properties. Furthermore, two products may look similar, but havecompletely different formulations. Therefore, where one type of polymer may besuitable in a particular application, another may be detrimental in that sameapplication.  

Polymer material testing and polymer identification thereforeis crucial if, for example, it has been involved in a failure, if you needquality testing, if it is not performing as expected, if you would like tocompare the material from different sources, or if you need to deformulate aproduct.

As a specialist plastic testing laboratory, ExcelPlas hasan extensive variety of testing equipment and an expert polymer knowledge basethat can help you with polymer identification. We can identify the basepolymer, additives, fillers, plasticisers, reinforcements, coating layers andmore.

Some examples of polymer identification tests we canuse to analyse the material include:

·        Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrosocpy (FTIRand FTIR microscopy)

·        Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

·        Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)

·        Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

·        Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)

·        Gel Permeating Chromatography (GPC)

·        Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy DispersiveX-Ray Spectrometry (SEM-EDAX)

·        X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)

We can also assess other properties such as:

·        Physical properties of polymers such as density,molecular weight, intrinsic viscosity, wettability, degree of crystallinity

·        Thermal properties of polymers such as meltingpoint, glass transition temperature, decomposition temperature, softeningtemperature, coefficient of thermal expansion, flammability

·        Mechanical properties of polymers such astensile strength and elongation, impact resistance, flexural strength testing,compressive strength testing, tear testing, abrasion testing

·        UV accelerated weathering and salt-spray testing

·        Chemical resistance of polymers andcompatibility testing

Our team is available to help you determine the besttest methods suited for your requirements.

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