Sensors & Electronics
Macro Property Measurement
Multilayer Polymer Bottle Inspection (143)
Problem: Develop rapid method to detect and measure adjacent layers of virgin and recycled polymer in multilayer, blown bottles
Project Activity Scope (from Technical Overview Chart): Interaction Mechanisms through Measurement & Analysis Method Development
PNNL Solution:
- Because virgin and recycled polymer materials exhibit different crystalline properties, and crystals in recycled polymer cause exploitable optical scattering signature, used orthogonal optical system to allow visual differentiation of distinct layers
- Measured layer thickness from microscope image of test sample
Capabilities Employed to Meet Client Needs: Optical interactions with materials including scattering phenomena; optimization of laser light source and viewing system configuration to enhance sensitivity to scattered light signal; optical microscopy with dark field option for enhanced detection of scattered light (internal task); bench-scale optical system development for concept evaluation and demonstration; materials analysis to demonstrate correlation between polymer phase and optical scattering effects (industrial task); data analysis and test documentation.
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