24 Jun From Unknowns to Insights – Reverse Engineering Your Critical Materials

Supporting R&D and Industry with Advanced Analytical Capabilities

SPECIFIC POLYMERS (SP) is a R&D company expert in polymer and material chemistry. Across our diverse activities, from custom synthesis of novel molecules or (macro)molecules to material formulation design, we rely on our analytical expertise. This expertise encompasses advanced physico-chemical analysis (NMR, …) and rheological and thermo-mechanical analysis, supported by state-of-the-art equipment acquisitions over the years.

Today, beyond strengthening our impact on R&D activities, this expertise also allows us to support our clients through dedicated analytical services. Our goal is to help our customers and partners gain an in-depth chemical understanding of the materials they use and address a variety of challenges, such as: 

• Investigating performance issues and improving material understanding 

• Managing product obsolescence and identifying alternative sources 

• Securing supply chains and qualifying new sourcing options 

In recent years, material obsolescence, especially in specialty chemicals or commercial resins,  has become increasingly common. In many applications, required volumes can be small, and major industrial players may withdraw from production and supply. In addition to market disruptions, regulatory bans and sovereignty-related constraints increasingly contribute to the challenge. As a result, there is a growing need to help clients fully understand the materials they currently use, establish connections between chemical composition, physico-chemical properties, and final performance, and ultimately identify or redevelop materials to ensure business continuity. 

Reverse Engineering: Bridging Chemical Structure and Applicative Performances

To support clients facing these complex material challenges, SPECIFIC POLYMERS offers a deformulation and reverse engineering service leveraging our internal chemical expertise. Our objective is to deeply understand the chemistry of the material and extract the maximum amount of information to understand how it is processed, how its components interact, and how its performance can be maintained or improved. 

We can analyze a wide range of pure or formulated products. Based on physico-chemical analysis, we can also study rheological behaviors under different conditions or measure key thermo-mechanical properties, key driving parameters for future developments. Our services include the chemical analysis of compounds to assess purity, functionality, molecular weight, and other key properties. We also examine more complex formulations, such as structural resins, adhesives, and coatings. 

Thanks to our strong background in synthetic chemistry, we are skilled in the necessary separation, solubilization, and treatment steps to accurately characterize a material. For thermosetting resins, we can study both the raw (uncured) resin and its curing behavior under heat, assessing how curing parameters affect the final material’s properties. We support clients in identifying optimal curing cycles to maximize performance. 

In addition to our laboratory capabilities, we complement our approach with comprehensive literature reviews — drawing on scientific publications, patents, and technical datasheets — and benchmarking studies. By cross-referencing all available data, we provide the most accurate and reliable insights. 

Our ability to deeply analyze and understand materials is a significant asset for clients since it allows:  

Toward custom-designed alternative materials 

Based on our analytical expertise and our in-depth understanding of products chemical composition, we can also support our customers one step further by providing tailored formulation services, enabling us to offer relevant alternative solutions.  

We identify and develop alternatives to existing resins by optimizing formulations to meet new requirements or to enhance specific technical properties. Whether it involves boosting performance, incorporating new materials, or addressing regulatory challenges, our approach aims at providing a technical solution to substitute currently used materials. We conduct rigorous testing and validation to ensure they meet performance standards and comply with projects objectives. 

Focus on our Analytical Tools