EXPERT WITHIN THERMOANALYSIS AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

FT-IR Microscopy

The FT-IR instrument can be coupled with microscopy to identify and measure samples down to a few μm in size. Outstanding for use on polymer samples when searching for contamination or identifying small unknown particles. There are instrument systems that are automated to collect enormous amounts of data. The following section describes some uses for this technique.

Polymer film

Polymer films have a wide range of applications, including packaging materials. They often have a complex structure with multiple layers of different polymers that have different barrier functions. The FT-IR microscope has long been an important technique for studying and characterizing multi-layer films. You can look at the different layers and also visually study images of the layers.

Contamination

Contamination and unknown particles or substances that are often present in such small quantities that they are barely visible can cause major problems that affect the quality of products produced, lead to product defects, or even disturb manufacturing processes. Here it can be a small micro contamination that can be properly studied and detected by the FT-IR microscope technique.

Failure analysis

FT-IR microscope is an excellent tool when starting and initiating a failure investigation.

Microplastics

A lot of products contain microplastics that are very small beads of plastic that have different functions. Recently, their environmental problems have been noticed where they eventually disappear into the nature and further into animals and eventually into our own bodies. Some countries have banned the use of certain products that include microplastics. They are all around us and are only a few μm in size. The FT-IR microscope is an invaluable tool for studying and identifying these small microplastics.