Plastic recycling presents many challenges across the manufacturing workflow. One of the biggest challenges is controlling the uncertainty of feedstock quality. Variations in quality arise from mixtures of different polymer types in the recycling process. This is a step-by-step guide for the quality control of recycled plastics with the NETZSCH DSC 214 Polyma.
Ever since plastics have become a popular material, manufactures have produced a total of 8.3 billion tons of virgin plastic. The production and usage of plastic has been a resounding success. However, it is alarming what is happening to the plastic that has served its time. The challenges posed by mechanical recycling can be overcome with thermal analysis.
NETZSCH thermoanalytical instruments support the processes from incoming goods inspection to optimization of the manufacturing process to quality assurance of the final product. Visit the NETZSCH booth D49 in hall 11 to talk to the thermal analysis experts and listen to our series of short talks.
The determination of fiber volume fraction is crucial for the quality control of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) in order to ensure their favorable mechanical and physical properties for the use in aerospace, wind energy and automotive sectors. A new thermogravimetric testing method, published by Dominik Grund in the journal “Polymer Testing”, considers heating rate, analysis atmosphere and sample size to efficiently ensure high quality of the material. This editorial summarizes the steps for the use of TGA in the quality control of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers.