Plastics are a subset of materials called polymers. Polymers are high molecular weight molecules that consist of repeating units called monomers. The development of a variety of polymers combined with the ability to blend or mix different polymers has made available a wide selection of plastics. This range of choices allows product designers to tailor the materials they use to possess specific properties, processing characteristics and costs.Rubber compounds are notoriously difficult to analyze. The rubber may contain a variety of additives including other polymers, which are used to enhance the properties of the rubber matrix, for example, plasticizers, inorganic fillers, carbon black, anti-degradants, cure systems, fire retardants and polyvinyl chloride. It is unlikely that more than 90-95% of a complex formulation can be determined by analysis alone. Compounds may contain over 15 different ingredients, some present at very low levels. During vulcanization chemical reactions occur which may change the nature of the components in a rubber and this must be taken into account. It is evident that a good rubber analyst must have a working knowledge of rubber technology to succeed. Rubber analysis is used for a variety of purposes such as quality control, reverse engineering (deformulation) and to determine causes of failure.

Plastics are a subset of materials called polymers. Polymers are high molecular weight molecules that consist of repeating units called monomers. The development of a variety of polymers combined with the ability to blend or mix different polymers has made available a wide selection of plastics. This range of choices allows product designers to tailor the materials they use to possess specific properties, processing characteristics and costs.Rubber compounds are notoriously difficult to analyze. The rubber may contain a variety of additives including other polymers, which are used to enhance the properties of the rubber matrix, for example, plasticizers, inorganic fillers, carbon black, anti-degradants, cure systems, fire retardants and polyvinyl chloride. It is unlikely that more than 90-95% of a complex formulation can be determined by analysis alone. Compounds may contain over 15 different ingredients, some present at very low levels. During vulcanization chemical reactions occur which may change the nature of the components in a rubber and this must be taken into account. It is evident that a good rubber analyst must have a working knowledge of rubber technology to succeed. Rubber analysis is used for a variety of purposes such as quality control, reverse engineering (deformulation) and to determine causes of failure.