Polymer Characteristics Requiring Elucidation

Abstract

It is emphasized at the start that the examination of a polymer can fall into one of several broad categories;

• a the identification of an unknown polymer also the identification and determination of other materials present in the formulation such as additives, fillers, monomers, volatiles, water, catalyst remnants and other impurities

• b the examination of the micro structure of a polymer for information that would help to explain particular chemical or physical features of the polymer. In this case the type of polymer might be known at the start but we are looking for structural detail that will explain its physical properties (e.g. tacticity in polypropylene or the molecular weight distribution of a polymer), and would explain the difference in measurable physical properties obtained between different grades or sources of the same polymer

• c the measurement of physical properties of a known polymer such as thermal oxidative or photo-oxidative stability, its combustion properties, measurement of Tg and other transitions and of crystallinity and Tm and finally estimation of the lifetime of a polymer to be expected under particular service conditions.