Recycling might cause changes to polymer properties. For example, shear and heat can cause degradation, impurities can weaken materials. Since plastics can be of unknown origins, test must be performed to check for restricted toxic compounds and elements like lead and cadmium. Therefore, quality control of the recycling materials is of high importance if the recycled material is targeting demanding applications.
OMNISEC allows the testing of DMA molecular weight distribution, molecular structure and intrinsic viscosity. The multi-detector SEC/GPC provides additional insight into degradation products, additives or impurities present. While X-ray fluorescence provides insights into elemental composition, the combination of different technologies provides a more complete picture of your recycled polymers.
Where applicable, the Mastersizer and the Morphologi 4 can be used to measure fillers such as milled glass fiber for their size and shape distributions.