New GCMS  Pyrolyzer Comprehensive  Analysis of Polymers

Shimadzu (Germany) is a market and technology leader in GC and GC/MS. These systems are suitable for routine analyses and fast GC, allowing the development of in-house and new methods. Thanks to numerous accessories such as columns, detectors and injectors, chromatographs and quadrupoles can be configured to specific applications and customer needs.

New on the accessories list is a pyrolyzer as sample introduction system that has been developed in collaboration with the company Frontier Lab. This versatile tool enables the comprehensive analysis of polymer samples. It consists of Shimadzu’s GCMS-QP2010 quadrupole series and Frontier Lab’s new Multi-Shot EGA/PY-3030D(S) pyrolyzer with vertical micro furnace. The PY-3030S as conventional single-shot pyrolyzer (isothermal pyrolysis) is ideal for the routine analysis of polymers. The PY-3030D is equipped with a low thermal mass ceramic heating unit featuring improved thermal stability and an extended temperature range from ambient temperature + 10 °C up to 1,050 °C. This enables the analysis of temperature-sensitive compounds as well as the cracking of temperature-stable polymers using high-temperature pyrolysis. The ceramic heater and a new design of the pyrolysis/GC interface contribute to increased heating and cooling rates, leading to higher productivity due to the very short heating cycle times. The optimised temperature control ensures an improved reproducibility of the pyrolysis data, particularly at higher temperatures. In addition, the performance of the GCMS-QP2010 series contributes to the excellent reproducibility of the data.

Numerous accessories open up new potentials for polymer analyses. The sample introduction systems increase the range of applications, e.g. the analysis of weathering products as well as reactions under high pressure. By exchanging the sampler it is possible to carry out various sample introduction methods such as single shot/double-shot pyrolysis, liquid injection, reactive pyrolysis or sample irradiation with UV light.

Analysis and interpretation of complex pyrolysis data is made easier and more effective with the new version 3.1 of the F-Search software. This search software offers a unique, patented algorithm for a library search of entire chromatograms, independent of the analysis conditions or the separation column.

Various specialised libraries, including pyrograms, thermograms, pyrolyzates and additives, as well as the possibility to create custom in-house libraries, complete the software. The EGA and program libraries have recently been updated extensively.