Puzzled about your polymers?Polymer Analysis
Typically organic, polymers are chemical compounds that consist of chains of repeating monomer compounds/units. Used in diverse products ranging from furniture to pharmaceuticals to food packaging, the applications for polymers are endless.
When you need answers about the polymers in your products, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) can help. Our lab experts provide detailed data about the chemical and physical properties of polymers — information that can aid in quality control and product improvement. Our polymer analyses provide insight into molecular structure, weight percent, density, thermal characteristics, hardness and more.
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Applications for polymer analysis
Here are just a few ways polymer analysis might be useful to your company:
- Want to know the melt flow rate of a thermoplastic material?
- Want to improve quality control or enhance the performance of your polymer product?
- Want to reverse engineer a formula so you can move foreign-based manufacturing back to the U.S.?
- Need a precise breakdown of an existing polymeric formula to meet a customer or regulatory request?
- Need to understand the root cause of a product failure?
- Need to certify a polymer to an ASTM standard?
We’ve got you covered! Our Lab Services team can deliver the answers you need about the composition and limits of your polymer.
Our Capabilities
- COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS: This test is used to determine the chemical composition of any polymeric material. We provide a complete deformulation to identify and quantify the base polymer, as well as any organic and inorganic additives. We will discover if a polymer is contaminated with a different polymer, has the wrong additive, or has been recycled. Our comparative analyses provide useful data for reverse engineering and quality control.
- WEAR TESTING: This type of testing assesses a polymeric material’s ability to withstand repeated loading conditions, such as pressure, expansion/compression, vibration or temperature to ensure it will perform as intended over the course of its lifetime. Through wear testing, we can establish the limits of your polymer — the point at which structural integrity begins to decline — and quantify the rate and level of degradation. A controlled failure in a laboratory setting can provide a wealth of valuable information to position your product for success.
- FAILURE ANALYSIS: This type of analysis answers the “why” question when a polymeric material does not perform as intended or designed. With our highly accurate failure analysis, IIA compares samples from a high-performing polymer product to a non- or under-performing specimen to unravel the root cause of failures.
Why Choose IIA?
With roots that date back nearly a century, IIA has grown to become one of the largest and most trusted providers of lab services in North America. Our ISO-accredited testing lab provides timely, accurate results, using a wide variety of test equipment and experienced personnel. Our capabilities include metallurgical, non-destructive, dimensional, mechanical, EMC/EMI, consumer goods, calibration, environmental and chemical analysis. As a full-service provider, the entire IIA team is on tap to help resolve questions or issues related to your polymer analysis.
Instrumentation & types of data delivered
Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography (Py/GC)
- Polymer & Additive Identification
- Polymer & Additive Degradation Times [Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA)]
- Product Comparison
Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
- Enthalpy of Melting
- Enthalpy of Crystallinity
- Glass Transition Temperature
- Morphology Information (Preliminary)
- Oxidative Induction Time (Time between melting point and onset of degradation)
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
- Plasticizer Content
- Polymer Content
- Carbon Black
- Ash
- Thermal Stability (Determines temperature at which a component starts to break down)
Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS)
- Elemental Analysis
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
- Surface Analysis
Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy
- Structural Information
Other Polymer Testing Services
- Density
- Hardness
- Shore A (for rubbers)
- Shore D (for plastics)
- % Moisture
- Tensile Strength
- IZOD Impact Test
- Flammability
- Dielectric Constants
- Solubility
- Thermal Behavior
- Thermoplastic vs. Thermoset
- Litmus Tests of Vapors from Plastics
- Impact Resistance
- Melt Flow Indexing
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