Plastics Additives: Advanced Industrial Analysis

Modern polymer/additive deformulation is essentially carried out according to three different approaches, in increasing order of sophistication, namely analysis of analytes separated from the polymer (typically an extract), of analytes and polymer in solution, or directly in-polymer (solid state or melt). The current status of conventional, indirect, methods of deformulation of polymer/additive extracts and dissolutions has recently been described in a comprehensive fashion. However, there is an impelling need to tackle polymer/additive deformulations strategically in an ever-increasing order of sophistication in analytical ingenuity, from indirect to direct analysis procedures, from macro to micro, from slow to rapid, from close to remote, from lab to process. This book, containing an outline of the principles and characteristics of relevant instrumental techniques (without unnecessary detail), provides an in-depth overview of various aspects of direct additive analysis by focusing on a wide array of applications in R&D, production, quality control and technical service. The book describes the fundamental characteristics of the arsenal of techniques utilised industrially in direct relation to application in real-life polymer/additive analysis. Instrumental methods are categorized according to general deformulation principles with emphasis on promoting understanding and on effective problem solving.