This handbook is intended to serve as the definitive desktop companion for anyone engaged in the testing and analysis of plastics or in the use of properties developed from polymer analysis. It describes the latest analytical developments, technologies and equipment used to characterize and examine plastic and composite materials, highlighting the most popular tools employed by industry to assess polymer behavior, structure, and composition.

The Handbook of Plastics Analysis presents step-by-step descriptions of analytical strategies; numerous case studies to clarify analytical techniques and instrumentation methods; practical solutions to dilemmas encountered in materials research and manufacturing; and much more.

From the Preface: “Plastics are one of the enabling technologies of the 20th century. They are among the most complex engineering materials being used in the world today, with amazing properties that have revolutionized the way in which products are manufactured...In [every application], it has been crucially important to understand their behavior through various parts of their product life, from manufacture to utilization and eventually their reclaim or disposal. The tools and techniques used to develop this understanding are referred to as plastics analysis...In order to maintain a practical focus, the book concentrates on an approach that is more phenomenological than theoretical. While not going into detailed derivations, the book sets forth the basic governing equations where necessary to provide a good theoretical understanding of the techniques...”

Target Audience: Polymer and materials scientists; plastics, chemical, and polymer engineers; experimental, physical, and polymer chemists; polymer, materials, experimental, and chemical physicists; and upper-level students in these disciplines.

Table of Contents:

General Introduction to Plastics Analysis

Capillary Rheometry

Practical Uses of Differential Scanning Calorimetry for Plastics

Thermogravimetric Analysis of Polymers

Thermal Conductivity and Diffusivity of Polymers

Thermomechanical and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis

Intrared and Raman Analysis of Polymers

Plastics Analysis by Gas Chromatography

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance of Polymeric Materials

Inorganic Analyses of Polymers

Liquid Chromatography of Polymers

Particle Size Measurement of Plastics and Polymers Using Laser Light Scattering

Appendix: ASTM Methods for Analysis of Plastic and Rubber Materials

Index