Measuring Polybutadiene in Impact Polystyrene using MQC+

Polystyrene is one of the most commonly used polymers in the world today. Pure polystyrene is rigid and brittle but its properties may be modified.

One means of modification is by introducing polybutadiene into the polymerisation process. The resulting polymer has the rigidity of polystyrene but with greatly improved impact performance derived from the elastomeric phase.

Controlling and monitoring the level of polybutadiene in impact polystyrene is critical to obtaining the required mechanical properties.

Our benchtop NMR analyser, MQC+, provides a fast, simple and accurate method of measuring polybutadiene content in impact-modified polystyrene.