Advanced Technologies for Creating and Analyzing Polymers

Compounding is employed to mix a polymer matrix with different additives to achieve a specific material behavior. Extrusion is used to determine the final form of polymers and plastics, from small sample amounts during initial product development through to full-scale manufacturing processes. Reliable extrusion and compounding tools help ensure that final products such as pipes, films, coatings, etc. have the desired physical properties.

Twin-screw extruders are well-established tools for the mixing, compounding, and processing of materials. By processing polymers at controlled temperatures and shear rates, extruders and compounders allow for the study of thermal stability, degradation, and mechanical properties. This helps in understanding how polymers behave under different processing conditions and in predicting their performance in real-world applications.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is the preferred method of infrared spectroscopy. When IR radiation is passed through a sample, some radiation is absorbed by the sample and some passes through (is transmitted). The resulting signal at the detector is a spectrum representing a molecular ‘fingerprint’ of the sample. The usefulness of infrared spectroscopy arises because different chemical structures (molecules) produce different spectral fingerprints.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is a non-destructive spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, NIR is based on overtones and combinations of bond vibrations in molecules. NIR can typically penetrate much further into a sample than FTIR, and unlike Raman, is not affected by fluorescence. Thus, although NIR spectroscopy is not as chemically specific as Raman or FTIR, it can be very useful in probing bulk material with little or no sample preparation. It is a widely used rapid alternative to time-consuming, solvent intensive, wet-chemistry methods and chromatographic techniques.

Our instruments help you to quickly verify incoming raw materials, monitor reaction progress, and quantify final products at reduced cost and increased sample throughput.

Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique used to observe vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system. It relies on the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light, usually from a laser. When light interacts with molecular vibrations or other excitations in the material, the energy of the laser photons is shifted up or down, providing information about the vibrational modes of the molecules.

This technique is valuable for characterizing molecular structures, identifying substances, and studying molecular interactions. Raman spectroscopy is particularly useful for its ability to provide detailed information about molecular vibrations and the chemical composition of a sample without requiring extensive sample preparation.

Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, or UV-Vis, is an analytical technique used to measure the absorbance of a sample in the ultraviolet and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically from about 200 nm to 800 nm. This technique is commonly used to determine the concentration of a substance in solution, analyze the chemical composition of a sample, and study the electronic transitions of molecules. UV-Vis spectroscopy is widely used in various fields, including chemistry, biology, environmental science, and materials science. 

Our proven UV-Vis spectroscopy instruments are user-friendly and help you quantify, assess purity, and more. Experience accuracy, ease-of-use, and reliability in an affordable package.

Composite materials are making their way into many different application areas, ranging from aerospace to automotive and construction. Their properties improve stiffness and strength and allow for design of lightweight components at a reasonable cost. A composite is commonly defined as a combination of two or more distinct materials, each of which retains its own distinctive properties, to create a new material with properties that cannot be achieved by any of the components acting alone.

Thermo Scientific Avizo Software allows you to obtain structural, physical, chemical, and mechanical properties quickly and accurately. With dedicated tools to obtain fiber properties, porosity, and pore network information, Avizo Software is the digital analytic lab you need to analyze your 2D and 3D imaging data, no matter the data acquisition system you used.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a valuable technique for analyzing the structure of polymers. Unlike metals and ceramics, polymers are often semi-crystalline, containing both crystalline and amorphous regions. XRD helps in determining the degree of crystallinity, identifying crystal structures, and studying the orientation of polymer chains.

In XRD analysis, a monochromatic X-ray beam is directed at the polymer sample. The X-rays are diffracted by the crystalline regions of the polymer, producing a diffraction pattern that consists of distinct peaks superimposed on a broad halo from the amorphous regions. The positions and intensities of these peaks provide information about the crystalline structure and the degree of crystallinity.

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy is a non-destructive analytical technique used to determine the elemental composition of materials. XRF analyzers work by measuring the fluorescent (or secondary) X-rays emitted from a sample getting irradiated by a primary X-ray source. Each of the elements present in a sample produces a set of characteristic fluorescent X-rays lines like a fingerprint.  These fingerprints are distinct for each element, making XRF spectroscopy an excellent tool not only for qualitative analysis but also for quantitative measurements when processing the intensity of the emitted lines. In aluminum production, XRF is used for analysis of raw materials, slags, and alloys. Critically, XRF used in combination with XRD enables process control of the aluminum electrolysis process.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), also known as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), is a highly surface-sensitive, quantitative, chemical analysis technique that can be used to solve a wide range of materials problems. XPS is the measurement of photoelectrons ejected from the surface of a material that has been irradiated with X-rays. The kinetic energy of the emitted photoelectrons is measured. This energy is directly related to the photoelectrons’ binding energy within the parent atom and is characteristic of the element and its chemical state.

Only electrons generated near the surface can escape without losing too much energy for detection. This means that XPS data is collected from the top few nanometers of the surface. It is this surface selectivity, coupled with quantitative chemical state identification, that makes XPS so valuable in a vast array of application areas.