Instruments
Cambridge Polymer Group designs custom instrumentation focused on material characterization. We have also designed novel equipment to measure swelling behavior, tack testing, and mechanical and chemical characterization. Commercially-available instruments are shown below. Can’t find equipment on the market to capture the characteristic you need to test regularly? Our custom instrumentation design services can be found on this page.
Swell Ratio Tester (SRT™)
The SRT-1™ measures the swelling ratio of crosslinked polymers as they are placed in a good solvent. From Flory's network theory, the data can be used to calculate the crosslink density, molecular weight between crosslinks, and the number of crosslinks/chain.
FiSER™
The filament stretching extensional rheometer has been designed to induce a true uniaxial extensional flow on polymer solutions. The system imposes an exponential velocity profile while monitoring the cross-sectional area and the force exerted on the end-plate.
CaBER®
The CaBER®, or Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometer, is a low cost, easy to use instrument for quantifying the flow response of a polymer liquid and melt to an extensional deformation. This instrument can be used to quantify the viscosity, surface tension, relaxation time, and breakup time of filaments formed in an extensional flow.
CaBER® Upgrades
Over five years ago Cambridge Polymer Group invented the Capillary Breakup Extensional Rheometer (CaBER®). CPG is pleased to announce a range of enhancements that greatly improve the flexibility of the instrument and the quality of the data generated.
Enhanced Resolution
Conductivity Determination of Break-up
Synchronized Video Acquisition
Mechanical Tester
Cambridge Polymer Group introduces the second generation of its MS100 entry-level materials test frame. With a new, more powerful servo motor and increased actuator options the system has dramatically improved load capacity and linear travel.
Coefficient of Friction Fixture
Cambridge Polymer Group has extended the work of Kavepour and McKinley to develop a fixture that will attach to almost any existing shear rheometer. This fixture system uses the superb resolution and control of modern shear rheometers to extract repeatable and reliable measurements of the coefficient of friction for a surface.
DynamicFTIR Scan Package
Cambridge Polymer Group has developed a software add-on for Varian's FTIR spectrometer that provides automated 2D scanning of samples. Based on existing commercial motorized microscope stages, our Dynamic FTIR Scan package carries out automated scanning of any pattern along sample surfaces and edges, including user-defined periodic background scans and refocusing.