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Putting Your Polymer Formulations on the Fast Track to Profits
We specialize in assisting the plastics and polymer formulation process with laboratory-based compounding extruders and mixers. Our portfolio of lab instruments for materials analysis enables you to measure formulations and control production at several critical points in terms of flow properties, shear and glass transitions, molecular and elemental information, crystallinity and structural composition. No other instrument company offers both lab-based compounding tools and materials analysis solutions for polymer formulation projects.
Test processing parameter changes for rapid application-to-production scale
Creating new formulations require knowledge of the processing parameters such melt temperature, screw speed and retention time, as well as observing the effect of plasticizers and other additives. Using a benchtop compounder, these factors can be rapidly applied to larger systems used in the production of modified and new materials.
Benchtop twin-screw compounding sets the stage for quickly developing formulations and efficient project development. Designed for the laboratory bench, the Thermo Scientific Process 11 twin-screw compounder mirrors production-scale extruders (feeding systems, mixing and compounding zones, dies and downstream equipment).
Learn more - read the application note: Relevant Process Parameters for Twin-Screw Compounding
Assess material processability for both quality control and formulation
Used by materials suppliers to characterize the viscoelastic properties of polymer melts, rheometers are popular among plastics compounders. Rheometers assess material processability for both quality control and as a formulation tool to help determine which material best fits a process or application.
A measuring mixer and extruder system facilitates process modelling activities such as:
- Compounding polymers with additives to reduce flammability or affect viscosity
- Developing scale-up extrusion processes by using different L/D ratios
- Simulating master processes using only as little as 50 g of material
- Optimizing extrusion or mixing in respect to temperature and shear profile or extrusion of strands, profiles or films in combination with rheological or optical measurements
Learn more - read Investigation of the Flow Characteristics of PET at Different Temperatures; watch the webinar Torque Rheometer System PolyLab OS Mixer Tests
Simultaneously observe rheological and molecular changes in formulation development
Concurrent infrared spectroscopy and rheometry is a new tool for polymer development. Rheometry provides information about the viscoelastic properties as a function of stress and deformation, while FTIR spectroscopy provides feedback about chemical changes in materials via ATR sampling as they undergo changes such as temperature or curing. This enables developers to simultaneously observe rheological and molecular changes in formulation development.
Learn more - watch the webinar: Combining Rheometry with FTIR Spectroscopy: Benefits and Applications in Polymer Related Research