Plastic Composition

Expert Plastic Composition & Deformulation Testing

Plastics vs Polymers

There is sometimes a bit of confusion over plastics vs polymers. Polymer is the scientific name for materials formed from chains of repeating (poly) molecules (mers). The word "plastic" came about because it describes the way in which polymers typically deform. The word plastic mostly refers to the "thermoplastic" group of polymers. Thermoplastics can be molded into objects, melted, and remolded again. The other group of polymers are called "thermosets." Thermosets cannot be melted and remolded. Epoxies are examples of thermosets. For our purposes, we will use the term plastic and polymer interchangeably.

What's Inside

Everyday plastics are usually not 100% polymer. The plastic might have to be resistant to UV, heat, wear, ozone, thermal shock, and more. The plastic probably has dyes to change the color and fillers such as chalk to lower the cost. It might contain carbon black or ash to make it UV resistant. There are hundreds of plastic additives including anti-ozonants, fiber reinforcements, fillers, UV stabilizers, dyes, plasticizers, modifiers, and more. In a world of constantly advancing polymer materials science and applications you can trust FAI Materials Testing to test your plastic products and materials for composition.

Our Techniques

We offer plastic identification through infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. We have the capability to determine percent base polymer, fillers, mineral, and volatiles using thermogravimetric analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry is used to determine phase changes and transition energies. We also use pyrolysis GC-MS to test for a variety of additives matched to a standard library or compared to simultaneously run standard reference materials.

Whatever your need is, we have the expertise and equipment to provide you with a complete plastics composition analysis. Contact us today to obtain a free quote.