Dr. Nicolas Rühl, Product Manager Spectroscopy at Metrohm International Headquarters, explains the basic principles of near-infrared spectroscopy and how it is implemented in QC laboratories. Dr. Omar Sallouh, Head of Quality Assurance & Process Engineering at Rampf Polymer Solutions GmbH & Co. Kg, shares his first-hand experiences with polyol, isocyanates, and silicones analysis using near-infrared spectroscopy.
NIR spectroscopy: Fast quality control of polyols
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR spectroscopy, NIRS) is a fast analysis technique for routine measurements. With NIR spectroscopy, you can analyze multiple parameters in one measurement and determine physical and chemical properties of a material.
Learn more about NIR spectroscopy in our blog
Possible applications of NIRS include:
- Monomers, such as Ethylene oxide (EO) and Propylene oxide (PO): Determination of identity/quality, moisture content, color
- Polyols: Determination of identity/quality, OH number, acid number, moisture content
- Isocyanates: Determination of identity/quality, NCO content, moisture content
Application possibilities of NIRS for polyols and isocyanates
These application notes present the rapid solvent-free determination of the hydroxyl value according to ASTM D6342 as an alternative to ASTM D4274-16 and an efficient method to quantify isocyanate content as an alternative to ASTM D3155 with short time to result and without any solvents.