Recycling of plastics is an important topic at the TCKT since several years, which was worked on in different research projects. The most important factor for recycling materials is the exact composition, which determines the properties and therefore the possible applications. Due to that the range of test methods is continuously developed at the TCKT.
One aspect in recyclates is the amount of impurities, i.e. different polymers, in a plastic stream, To evaluate that, thermal and spectroscopic methods were developed to detect relatively small amounts. Especially with FTIR spectroscopy it is possible to detect impurities as low as 1 %, depending on the polymer and the contaminant. For detailed investigations of complex recyclates, the main component can be removed from the sample via solvent extraction, to then further investigate the residues.
If you are interested in such analysis, please contact us, we are looking forward to your materials.
