Plastics identification information
Our PlasTells CAN identify:
Transparent, translucent and opaque samples.
Samples of any colour except dark grey and black due to carbon black (see below).
Plastics containing a wide range of fillers.
A wide range of materials, including the ones in the table below.
Our PlasTells CANNOT identify:
Samples containing carbon black. This pigment causes all the infrared light to be absorbed and as a result, we don't get any useful information from the sample. This is a problem shared with other NIR identification devices and there isn't much we can do.
Films thinner than ~ 20 µm. This is because of thin film interference (this is the same as oil forming rainbows on water puddles) affecting the spectra. Thin films can be scanned by repeatedly folding the films to create a thicker sample.
The presence of fillers such as glass or talcum - these don't have unique signatures in the NIR region where we perform the measurement and as a result, the spectra look the same as if there was no filler.
Painted / coated samples. The paint or coating would have a different NIR spectrum to the uncoated part - always scan the unpainted parts of the samples!
PTFE (Teflon). Our machine primarily measures the vibrations of carbon-hydrogen bonds - but Teflon doesn't have any and as a result, its NIR spectrum is largely flat.
Supported materials
Our PlasTell supports the following materials:
| Supported materials | Additional information |
| PET (polyethylene terepthalate) | |
| PE (polyethylene) | Our latest generation of PlasTells can now also distinguish HDPE from LDPE! |
| PVC (polyvinylchloride) | |
| PS (polystyrene) | |
| PC (polycarbonate) | Work in progress on ABS-PC blend recognition |
| ABS (poly(acetonitrilebutadienestyrene)) | Work in progress on ABS-PC blend recognition |
| PP (polypropylene) 
 | All types of PP (isotactic, atactic etc.) will be identified as "PP". |
| PLA (polylactic acid) | |
| PETG (glycol-modified PET) | |
| PU (polyurethane) | TPU will also be recognised as PU due to their similarity. |
| PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate, acrylic) | |
| PVDF* (polyvinylidene fluoride) | experimental support |
| PEEK* (polyether ether ketone) | experimental support |
| POM* (polyoxymethylene, acetal) | experimental support |
| PAI* (polyamide-imidie) | experimental support |
| ASA* (acrylonitrile styrene acrylate) | experimental support |
| PSU* (polysulphone) | experimental support |
| PEI* (polyetherimide) | experimental support |
| SAN* (styrene acrylonitrile) | experimental support. Very similar to ABS (which is an acrylonitrile-styrene-butadiene copolymer) - the only difference is the presence of butadiene in low %. |
| EVA* (ethylene vinyl acetate) | experimental support |
| paper* (cellulose) | experimental support |
| SIL (silicone rubber) | |
| NBR* (nitrile butadiene rubber) | experimental support - new May 2022 |
| RUB* (natural & synthetic rubber) |
*not enabled by default - please enable the material if you need it.
Other (custom) materials
If you would like to identify other materials, we made it possibly to add new materials and samples to the library. Or get in touch ([email protected]), send us your materials and we will add the new material for you!