Consulting Services

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Consulting Services

How we can serve our clients

We offer different options for clients depending on their needs:

A La Carte: For simple projects where you only need a handful of tasks done. We’ll provide a per-run or per-hour rate for each task that you need done.
Project-Based: For larger or more complex projects. Rather than itemize each individual experiment, we can provide a project-based estimate that will help streamline project efficiency. This provides advantage of doing testing that is warranted based on data, without falling outside of the scope of the estimate requiring less back-and-forth.
Retainer: For clients that need on-demand consulting services we do offer retainer services.

Synthesis

Additives & monomers: Our team is well-versed in wet-chemistry techniques for small molecules. We have extensive experience in synthesis of custom initiators/chain transfer agents (anionic, ATRP, RAFT, etc.). The members of this team have several patents and applications for different novel monomers, chain transfer agents, and subsequent polymers for different bio-derived feedstocks (soybean oil, glycerol, muconic acid, isosorbide, etc.). We have also developed and synthesized various additives such as plasticizers, tackifiers, and emulsifiers.

Polymers: We have experience with anionic, anionic ROP, ROMP, ATRP, RAFT, polycondensation, step-growth, and emulsion polymerization techniques. We have the capacity to do both high and low pressure polymerizations as well as temperatures that range from cryogenic to 300 °C or higher

Services offered

Duplicate or alteration of procedures that are known in the literature or by your entity.
Process optimization, cost reduction, laboratory scale-up, and other general engineering and development activities.
We design derivative molecules/polymers to work for your process. An example would be a RAFT chain transfer agent with a unique functional group to work with your chemistry/system.
Beyond what is typically seen in a wet-chemistry lab, we have access to a flash chromatography system that can allow for separations with as high as 30% mass loading onto the column. This is useful when brute force separation of large quantities (1 kg+) is necessary, but you don’t want to spend months separating enough material for testing.

Polymer Consulting Plastics consulting Polymer development Plastics formulation Polymer synthesis Plastics analytics

Characterization

Both small molecule and polymer analytics are available.

Some of our offered services (contact us for more details)

DSC: glass transition, melting point, crystallization temperature/rate/% crystallinity, heat of reaction, etc.
Rheology & Viscometry: Viscosity and viscoelastic characterization of materials. Ares G2, so available in viscometry, rheological, and DMA modes. Many fixtures available.
GPC: Multiple GPCs available for analysis of virtually any polymeric material.
SAXS/WAXS: Versitle instrument for determining crystal structure, % crystallinity, polymer morphology, pore size, etc.
NMR: Multiple NMRs for determining monomer structure/purity, polymer composition, etc.
GC & LC/MS systems: Useful for identifying and quantifying monomers & polymer additives.
TGA-DSC-MS-FTIR: Powerful data for understanding thermal decomposition of polymers and plastics. Coupled with powerful detectors (MS, FTIR, and DSC) for a more comprehensive analysis

Prototyping and formulation development

Extrusion: We can perform extrusion across multiple extruder sizes

Haake Minilab: Ultra small scale (3-7 g batches)

Process 11: Small batches (10g) to up to 2 kg/hr continuous twin screw extrusion.

12mm & 35mm single screw extruders

Larger twin and single screw options are available as needed

Injection molding: We can injection mold at multiple different scales (10s of grams, 100s of grams, and multi-kgs)

Haake minijet: small mechanical test specimens (ASTM 638 type V, ISO 527-2, DMA bars, IZOD bars, rheology disks, etc.)

100 ton injection molder: larger & multishot mechanical specimens. Prototyped parts (i.e. golf-tees)

Prototyping

Process 11: capable of generating thick films, sheets, fibers, filaments, and tubes. Prototyping with as little as 100 g for certain applications

Cast film lines are available. Require around 2-4 kg

Blown film lines are available. Require around 2-4 kg

Formulation

Via extrusion we formulate composites, stabilizers, nucleation aids, and a plethora of other additives.
If extrusion is not viable, we design other methods, such as solvent cast films and compression molding, to help with formulations and property determination.

Analytical Capabilities

Small Molecule

NMR (solution, solid, proton, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.)

GC-MS

LC-MS

Synapt G2

MALDI

Viscometry

Intrinsic Viscometry

FTIR

DSC

WAXs

XRD

Elemental Analysis

Particle Size Analysis

TGA-DSC-MS-FTIR

Contact Angle

Polymer

GPC

DSC

DMA

Rheology

NMR

MALDI

Intrinsic Viscometry

FTIR

WAXs

SAXs

XRD

Elemental Analysis

Microscopy (TEM, SEM, AFM, etc.)

Melt Flow Index

TGA

Pyrolysis GCMS

Crystallography

Instron

Charpy/IZOD

Scale-Up

Our team has experience taking processes from proof-of-concept (<1g) and driving that technology to the pilot scale (500 gallons) and beyond at 8,000 gallon+ scale.
In the laboratory scale-up, we have access to 10L & 50L stirred and jacketed vessel.
We are capable of designing and constructing custom set-ups at the lab and pilot scale to meet your needs
For the pilot scale-up, we have access to a pilot plant capable of performing reactions up the 500 gallon scale. This system can handle a wide array of conditions including: vacuum, mild pressure, temperatures above 100 °C, high and low viscosities, solvent and bulk reactions. It is capable of simple solvent/monomer flash removal, and has other customizable features as needed.

Polymer Consulting Group, LLC

5.0

Based on 3 reviews

review us on

Vadim Zaikov

18:26 03 Jun 25

I'd like to share few words about my experience working with Polymer Consulting Group. I've found them via my group's engineers who I've hired from Iowa State University (where PCG is located). Basically I have only good words to describe my collaboration with the PCG. I did ask them for some polymeric analysis few times and every time they did it in a comprehensive and timely manner. Michael is always available for a talk and responded to my requests very quickly. I did work with similar labs before and did have some level of dissatisfaction, while here with PCG I see no need to look any further. No doubt with my next analytical needs I'll seek their help. Highly recommended.

Dane Anderson

16:56 30 May 25

PCG are unbeatable on performance, cost, and flexible commitment when it comes to polymer R&D and application development. Eric and Michael were able to provide the expertise and equipment access needed to achieve new applications with small R&D quantities of polymer. I plan to use them again in any new polymer development going forward.

Oliver Shafaat

15:17 30 May 25

Polymer Consulting Group (PCG) has been amazing in all the work—3 years—that we have done with them. Michael, Eric, and the team leverage their years of experience to make sure your project/work gets done in the most successful way. They also provide suggestions to ensure that the work is transferrable to different sites or scales. I could not recommend working with PCG on projects more.