Polymer Char
 The Polyolefin Characterization Company | |
| Private Company | |
| Industry | Analytical Instrumentation for Polymer characterization |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Founder | B. Monrabal |
| Headquarters | Valencia, Spain |
Area served |
North America South America Europe Africa Asia |
| Products |
Gel permeation chromatography / Size Exclusion Chromatography Chemical composition Distribution Xylene Solubles Bivariate distribution Preparative Fractionation Infrared Detectors |
| Services |
Analytical Services Laboratory Consulting |
| Website | Official Website |
Polymer Char is a company which designs and manufactures instrumentation for polymer analysis.
History
Polymer Char was founded by B. Monrabal in 1992 in the Valencia Technology Park, in Spain, being registered with the name of Polymer Characterization, S.A.
Its initial goal was to develop a commercial Crystallization Analysis Fractionation (CRYSTAF) instrument based on technology developed by Monrabal at Dow Chemical Company laboratories in the Netherlands to measure chemical composition distribution in semicrystalline polymers.
A CRYSTAF prototype was presented at Pittcon in 1994. The first product was acquired in 1995 by a petrochemical company in South Korea.
The company has also developed techniques and instruments for polymer characterization, and more specifically, for polyolefin (polyethylene and polypropylene) characterization.
Polymer Char's technology is present in the petrochemical and research and development industries in over 20 countries in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.[1]
Analytical instrumentation
The company develops analytical instruments for polymer analysis.
- Chemical composition distribution
Chemical composition distribution (CCD) together with the molar mass distribution (MMD) and their interdependence define the microstructure of a polyolefin. CCD is often the most discriminating feature of a complex polyolefin. Some instruments in Polymer Char’s range are available for this purpose:
- CRYSTAF: instrument intended for the fast measurement of the chemical composition distribution (CCD) in polyolefins (crystallization analysis fractionation).[2]
- TREF: performs the temperature rising elution fractionation (TREF) technique for the characterization of CCD in polyolefins.[3]
- Crystallization elution fractionation (CEF): high-throughput chemical composition distribution analyzer by CEF
- TGIC: technique for the analysis of low crystallinity polyolefins implemented by a fully automated instrument.
- GPC-IR: high temperature chromatography for polyolefin molar mass distribution. It works with concentration and composition detectors (infrared), viscometer and light scattering.[4][5]
- GPC One: GPC calculations software.[6]
- Data Unit 200: signals device for gel permeation chromatography instruments.
- GPC-QC: simplified and fully automated GPC instrument aimed at control laboratories in polyolefin production plants.
- IVA: automated instrument for intrinsic viscosity analysis of polymers with dissolution temperature up to 200 °C.
- Cross-fractionation chromatography(CFC) instrument to analyze the polyolefin bivariate distribution by TREF and gel permeation chromatography.[7]
- SGIC 2D: 3D results with the advantages of using an IR detector for this new tool aimed at polyolefin characterization.
- Preparative fractionation
- PREP mc2: preparative instrument to fractionate polymers by molar mass or composition (TREF or CRYSTAF).
- PREP C20: a column-based preparative fractionation instrument, capable to fractionate up to 20 grams of polymer.
- Soluble fraction
- CRYSTEX: instrument intended to measure the amorphous fraction of polypropylene and ethylene-propylene copolymers, for quality control laboratories for polypropylene manufacturing plants.[8]
- CRYSTEX QC: fully automated instrument for amorphous phase determination in PP/EP manufacturing QC laboratories.
- CRYSTEX 42: high-throughput system for simultaneous measurement of the soluble fraction, ethylene content and intrinsic viscosity in a fully automated process for up to 42 samples.
- IR4: Infrared detector for composition and concentration measurements in polyolefins for gel permeation chromatography (GPC/SEC), HPLC, TREF, etc.[9]
- IR5: an infrared detector for highly demanding applications in Polymer Char instruments such us GPC-IR, HPLC, CFC and other separation techniques.
Part of the techniques and instruments were developed with Petrochemical companies and Research Institutes from United States, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Japan. The company supplies in over 35 countries around the globe Analytical Services for Polymer characterization.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Corporate Communications". Polymer Char.
- ↑ B. Monrabal; TREF and CRYSTAF technologies for Polymer Characterization. Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry (Publisher: John Wiley & Sons: 2000 Issue, Pages 8074 – 8094.
- ↑ B. Monrabal; Microstructure Characterization of Polyolefins. TREF and CRYSTAF: Progress in Olefin Polymerization Catalysts and Polyolefin Materials, Proceedings of the First Asian Polyolefin Workshop. Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis: Volume 161, 2006, Pages 35-42.
- ↑ B. Monrabal, W. W. Yau; Engineering Advances in GPC Instrumentation. The Column, LCGC: Volume 7, Issue 7, 2011. Pages 8-15.
- ↑ "Eliminate Solvent Handling from Polyolefin Analysis". Select Science, Published: November 2010.
- ↑ "Software for Polyolefin GPC Applications from Polymer Char". Plastics Engineering, Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), Published: December 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27.
- ↑ "Polyolefins Microstructure Characterization by Automated Cross-Fractionation Chromatography (CFC)". LCGC North America App. Book , Published: October 2, 2010.
- ↑ "CRYSTEX: Automated Xylene Solubles in PP with Viscometer and Composition Detectors". LCGC - Chromatography Online , Published: March 2, 2006.
- ↑ "High Temperature GPC Analysis of Polyolefins with Infrared Detection". LCGC Europe Applications Book, Published: October 2, 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012.