Thermo Scientific HAAKE MARS with Rheonaut Module
The Rheonaut Module by Thermo Fisher Scientific, when used with the HAAKE MARS rheometer platform, helps users understand the causes of rheological properties on a microscopic level. Dynamic rheometery and FT-IR spectroscopy can be employed simultaneously to monitor a structure development during the reactive processing of a sample and to detect interactions in contrast when used in parallel. This enables customers to optimise their products by adpating formulations more quickly.
Using a rheometer it’s possible to study the steady state and time-dependent viscoelastic properties of a material as a function of stress and/or strain. The viscoelastic properties of a material depend on the structure, however; especially the structural changes of the material on the molecular level. Infrared spectroscopy is an excellent tool for determining the identity and quantities of molecules in a sample. The Rheonaut provides both physical and chemical information on a sample simultaneously using one instrument. This allows a comparison of chemical informaiton with rheological properties. The Rheonaut operates in the mid-infrared spectral range since all fundamental absorption bans of a sample are typically found between 400-4000cm-1 (2.5 – 25 μm). This covers the so-called fingerprint region, which is generally accepted as unique for each molecule.
The Rheonaut is a compact module for Thermo Scientific HAAKE MARS that features:
• Simultaneous rheology and FT-IR spectra measurements
• ATR (attenuarted total reflection) principle
• Anlaysis of structural changes under shear/deformation
• Extensive investigation of thermal/UV curing reactions
Infrared Spectroscopy is capable of identifying the nature of a products molecular structures and transformations. The installation of the FT-IR Spectrometer option to the HAAKE MARS allows the researcher to discover another level of detail in the comprehension of rheological applications.