ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Published quarterly as the organ of the Foundry Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences ISSN (1897-3310) Volume 10 Special Issue 4/2010 15 – 18 3/4 ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 10, Special Issue 4/2010, 15-18 15 Methods of polymer binder examination M. Holtzer*, B. Grabowska, A. Bobrowski Department of Engineering of Foundry Processes, Faculty of Foundry Engineering, AGH-University of Science and Technology, 23 Reymonta, 30-059 Cracow, Poland *Corresponding author. E-mail address: holtzer@agh.edu.pl Received 29.06.2010; accepted in revised form 22.07.2010 Summary This article presents selected methods of examining polymer binders (in particular current or promising ones), including spectroscopy, microscopy, nanometry, chromatography and thermal analysis. The table (containing 23 literature references) collates and generally characterises over 20 analytical methods from the above groups. In addition, information is presented on research conducted by the Environmental Protection Lab of the Chair of Casting Process Engineering, Faculty of Foundry Engineering, AGH University of Science and Technology concerning the physical chemistry of polymer casting binders. Keywords: Polymer binders, Casting paste, Structural tests, Spectroscopic methods, Thermal analysis 1. Introduction As the modern industry of polymer material synthesis and processing develops, analytical examinations are becoming increasingly significant. The scope of these examinations is huge. Initially, only polymer materials were studied. However, more and more attention started being paid to the need to analyse substances escaping into the environment and leading to its contamination. In addition, it is becoming important to analyse the supporting raw materials added to polymers to give them the desirable technological characteristics. This mainly concerns fillers, plasticisers, modifiers, antioxidants and adhesion promoters. In the case of casting polymer binders, it is important to study the impact of the added networking substances (in the context of hardening the casting paste) and networking catalysts as well as to analyse the role and proportion of the binder solvent used in the process of hardening the casting paste. For studying polymer binders, structural and thermal analysis examinations seem particularly important, as they allow us to identify the mechanisms processes whereby polymer binders in the casting paste harden or are destroyed. These examinations also lead to identifying gas products of the destruction of polymer binders used in casting. 2. Methods of polymer material examination For analytical examinations, modern-day chemistry mainly uses physical methods which make it possible to precisely identify the location of atoms in molecules, determine the lengths of bonds, angles between them, define the bond energy and its polarisation, and also establish the energy levels occupied by electrons. Physical methods used in structural examinations can be split into three main groups: 1. diffraction methods; 2. polarisation methods; 3. spectroscopic methods. Diffraction methods – mainly used to examine the structure of solids: X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction and electron diffraction. Polarisation methods consist in studying the physical effects of the action of an electric or a magnetic field on matter. For the