Trends in identification and characterisation of plastics

Others tools that might be of some interest are studied. Permittivity measurement can not give the same level of information compared to IR spectroscopy but it might be helpful to assess degradation stage of polymers.

In recent years Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has developed considerably for the food and pharmaceutical industries and in polymer research. The MoranaNIR prototype application was tested on a blind set of historical plastic samples. 80% of the unknown samples are correctly identified.

A similar reliability of identification is obtained using non-portable FTIR spectroscopy. Innovative imaging techniques such as 2D near-infrared chemical imaging and 3D teraHertz imaging, which can non-invasively provide chemical and structural, are investigated.