The identification of rubber and plastic materials can be carried out by the Smithers polymer testing labs using several key techniques and expert analysis to provide clients with a clear picture of their material characteristics. Our complete composition analyses of polymers provides clients with:
- Competitive material benchmarking
- Performance evaluations to meet specifications
- Formula reconstructions as part of a material / product auditing process
- Quality control to evaluate contaminants
- Contaminant identification
The core techniques that we use to evaluate materials include (but are not limited to):
- Infrared Microspectroscopy
- UV/Visible Spectroscopy
- Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
- Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy
- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR)
- Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS)
- Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)
- Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC - MS),
- High-performance liquid chromatography
- Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)
- Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA)
- Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
- Additive Analysis
- Analysis of Chemical Blooms
- Carbon Black Analyses
- Chromatography and Spectrometry
- Complete Composition Analyses
- Elemental Characterization
- Dilute Solution Viscometry Testing
- Extractables and Leachables
- Food Contact Testing for Industrial Components
- GPC Testing - Polymer Molecular Weight Characterization
- Impurity Identification
- PAEK Testing – Polyaryletherketones and PEEK Materials
- Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Analysis
- Identification of Polymer Types and Blends
- REACH and RoHS Compliance Screening
- Silica Analysis
- Spectroscopy
- Sulfur Content
- Sustainable Carbon Black Technology Evaluation
- Thermal Analysis