Plastics testing

Plastics testing encompasses the entire range of polymeric material characterizations, from chemical stmcture to material response to environmental effects. Whether the analysis or property testing is for quaUty control of a specific lot of plastic or for the determination of the material s response to long-term stress, a variety of test techniques is available for the researcher. 

Combination techniques such as microscopy—ftir and pyrolysis—ir have helped solve some particularly difficult separations and complex identifications. Microscopy—ftir has been used to determine the composition of copolymer fibers (22) polyacrylonitrile, methyl acrylate, and a dye-receptive organic sulfonate trimer have been identified in acryHc fiber. Both normal and grazing angle modes can be used to identify components (23). Pyrolysis—ir has been used to study polymer decomposition (24) and to determine the degree of cross-linking of sulfonated divinylbenzene—styrene copolymer (25) and ethylene or propylene levels and ratios in ethylene—propylene copolymers (26). 

Nuclear magnetic resonance (nmr) requires an atomic nuclei that can absorb a radio-frequency signal impinging it in a strong magnetic field to give a spectmm. The field strength at which the nucleus absorbs is a function of both the nucleus and its immediate electronic environment. The atoms normally used for nmr analysis are as follows (34) H, F, P, Si, and Of these, the most commonly used in polymer analyses are 

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (4th Edition) 

The molecular weight and the distribution of multiple molecular weights normally found within a commercial polymer influence both the processibiUty of the material and its mechanical properties. Eor a few well-defined homopolymers, an analysis of composition and molecular weight is sufficient to define the likely mechanical properties of the polymer. 

A wide variety of polymers have been analyzed by gel-permeation, or size-exclusion, chromatography (sec) to determine molecular weight distribution of the polymer and additives (86—92). Some work has been completed on expanding this technique to determine branching in certain polymers (93). Combinations of sec with pyrolysis—gc systems have been used to show that the relative composition of polystyrene or acrylonitrile—polystyrene copolymer is independent of molecule size (94). Improvements in gpc include smaller cross-linked polystyrene beads having narrow particle size distributions, which allow higher column efficiency and new families of porous hydrophilic gels to be used for aqueous gpc (95). 

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