APT Solutions

APT is providing solutions for companies using plastic materials across the medical, composite, recycling and pharmaceutical sectors.

Equipment & Facilities – Analytical Equipment

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

  • Routine analysis (quantification and/or comparative identification) of components in mixture
  • Cleaning Validation Studies and Trace Analysis
  • Purity analysis

 

Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS)

  • Routine analysis of components in mixture
  • Cleaning Validation Studies and Trace Analysis
  • Purity analysis
  • Identification of unknown compounds (e.g. – contaminant materials)
  • Volatile materials identification in solid and liquid samples by Headspace GC-MS.

Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy

  • Identification of materials.
  • Detection of intermolecular bonding

Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC)

  • Molecular weight determination of polymers
  • Molecular Weight Distribution of Polymers
  • Comparative Analysis of loss of molecular weight of polymers through degradation

Karl Fischer Coulometer

  • % Moisture content of liquid and solid samples by Karl Fischer Coulometer

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

  • Identification of glass transition temperature, crystalline melting temperature and crystallisation temperature of polym
  • Thermal Stability of materials (e.g. – oxidative induction time (OiT) of materials)
  • DSC Identification of materials by their Crystalline Melting Temperature (according to IS EN ISO 3146:2000).

Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)

  • % Inorganic Content (including % Carbon Black and % CaCO3) by TGA (based on ISO 11358).
  • Material Thermal Stability.
  • Moisture and Volatiles Content.
  • Composition of Multi-Component Systems.
  • Shelf-Life Studies and Decomposition Kinetics.

Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA)

  • Mechanical-Thermal Properties of materials

Scanning Electron Microscope System with EDX Detector

  • SEM can be utilised to take highly detailed images of areas of interest on a sample (e.g. – fracture surfaces, contamination, etc).
  • The EDX detector can be utilised to determine the elemental profile of the area under investigation (e.g. – elements present in material to defined steel type)

Mechanical properties – Tensile, Compression, Flexural and Friction analysis

  • ISO testing on standard specimens or custom made samples
  • Tensile testing to measure material strength and elongation (flexibility).
  • Compression testing
  • 3-point bend flexural testing to measure flexural strength and modulus (stiffness).
  • Weld strength, tear strength and bond strength.
  • Friction testing of materials

Equipment-Facilities-Polymer-Processing-Equipment

Impact Resistance

  • Pendulum Impact testing to Charpy and Izod notched and un-notched tests
  • Falling dart impact testing using instrumented impact tester
  • Film impact testing using the ‘staircase method.’
  • Testing on ISO standard specimens or custom made samples
  • Customised impact tests to simulate end product exposure

Product Shelf Life Testing and Lifespan Estimation

  • Oven ageing to determine lifespan of product.
  • Oven ageing to verify Product Shelf Life stability of Medical Products.
  • Humidity chamber also available for more specific environments.
  • UV aging
  • Melt Flow Rate Analysis (MFR)
  • MFR is the primary polymer property used to determine batch consistency and specification conformity. Directly correlates to the average molecular weight of the polymer.
  • Verification of incoming raw material MFR.

Imaging Microscope Systems

  • Bright light and fluorescence microscope Imaging Systems
  • Confocal microscope
  • Application of digital sizing software to determine the dimensions of samples

Goniometer

  • Measurement of contact angle for assessment of hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity

Drug dissolution

  • In-line Pharmacopeia standard method for the detection of the release rate of active pharmaceutical ingredients through UV detection.
  • Manual sample collection and analysis through HPLC also possible

Rheometry

  • Determination of the storage (elastic) modulus, loss modulus, viscosity and shear strength of swollen or molten polymers

X-Ray Diffraction

  • Non-destructive technique that reveals detailed information about the chemical composition and crystallographic structure of natural and manufactured mater

Other tests

  • Shore A and Shore D hardness
  • Vicat Softening Point and Heat Deflection Temperature (HDT)
  • Optical testing; Colour, light transmission and haze
  • Abrasion testing
  • Measurement of Chemical Resistance and absorption tests.
Equipment & Facilities