A Case Study: Polymer Additives

The Case

The properties of plastic and rubber materials are altered in very important ways by the inclusion of appropriate additives packages. The additives can include fillers, antimicrobials, antioxidants, antistats, colorants and pigments, flame retardants, heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, lubricants, and plasticizers. A large amount of quality control and specification testing involves the evaluation of the additives packages in fully formulated polymer systems.

The analysis can verify that the intended additives package, including the desired initial concentration of each additive, was utilized. Analysis can also be used to monitor the fate of the additives as a function of time and environmental exposure. This case study provides general analytical information pertaining to the analysis of plastic materials, as manufactured, that contain heat stabilizers, light stabilizers, antioxidants, and plasticizers.

Full Study> PolymerAdditives.pdf (1.1 MB)

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The Approach

The analysis of additives that are a portion of the composition of polymer samples requires multiple analytical methods. The methods selected are influenced by the specific additives that are to be characterized and the physicochemical properties of these additives. Hindered phenolic antioxidants and phosphite antioxidants have been evaluated using reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV detection (HPLC-UV).

Higher molecular weight oligomeric hindered amine light stabilizers (HALS) have been analyzed using proprietary analytical techniques.