Forensic style contaminant analysis and fingerprinting of polymers with FT-NIR systems.

Spectroscopy is well known for its quality control and quality assurance roles, but sometimes its value in research and troubleshooting can be overlooked. Perkin Elmer elaborates on the additional uses of the ever-increasing variety of Fourier Transform infrared systems and the associated software

Infrared spectroscopy is used extensively in the paint and coatings industry monitor the manufacturing process, confirm the presence or absence of a particular coating or material, identify unknown coatings and as a troubleshooting technique to investigate flaws in coatings.

Every material has a unique infrared spectrum, and it is this `fingerprinting' ability that makes the technique ideal for checking the quality of manufactured coatings, as well as for the identification of unknown materials.

This process is facilitated by the availability of a range of infrared spectral libraries, with categories that include coating chemicals, monomers and polymers, adhesives and sealants, dyes and pigments, automotive paints and polymer additives.

When linked to an infrared microscope, infrared spectroscopy is ideally suited to forensic type analysis of imperfections, inclusions, discontinuities and other flaws in coatings, as well as for the identification of the individual layers in multi-layer coatings.

During the manufacturing process, infrared spectroscopy can be used to monitor the extent of a particular reaction process, ensuring that the correct material is being produced in an optimum way. Perkin Elmer offers a range of instruments and spectral libraries for these types of applications.

Contamination identification

The MultiScope FT-IR Microscopy System is a high-performance, low-cost infrared microscope designed for composition verification and contaminant identification. It is ideal for laboratories that require a rapid, simple method for screening, inspecting and identifying a range of micro-samples. The MultiScope offers the analyst all three standard sampling modes.

* transmission for powders, films, laminates, fibres and crystals,

* reflectance for surfaces, coatings and thin film on metals, and

* micro-ATR for analysis on samples not amenable to reflectance or transmission analysis.