Identification and Molecular Characterization of Polymer

Polymeric materials are made up of a number of monomer units which combine with each other chemically. The chemical structure of the polymer determines the physical and chemical properties of the polymers. Some of the polymers are soft in touch while others are hard. Although most of the polymers are white in color but depending on the absorption of the functional groups the color intensities may vary. Polymers vary not only in their feel, touch or color but they also vary in their chemical and physical behavior. The solubility parameter of the polymer must match with that of the solvent. This can be used as a tool to identify the polymer. Among other methods the study of the burning behavior of the polymer granules is very important method of identification. Among the spectroscopic methods, FTIR is useful and fast method of identifying a polymer. The methods, theory and observations of all the identification methods are discussed in this chapter.