Products Deformulation & Reformulation

Product deformation is often referred to as 'chemical reverse engineering', a compositional analysis process that can be applied to product characterization of a wide range of products for purposes ranging from identifying hazardous ingredients to improving formulations for competitive advantage. Deformation is the process of separating a formulated chemical or material product and determining its constituents, identifying and quantifying each component so that the end result becomes a product formulation. The methods used for product deformation are varied and depend on the type of product. At BOC Sciences, we can utilize a variety of wet chemical analysis techniques to separate and identify components, and are able to advise on the methods most likely to produce results within the available budget.

Applications of Deformulation & Reformulation

• Checking for banned substances in products
• Confirming the product identity
• Benchmarking and maintaining patents
• Reverse engineering of competitors' products

Figure 1. Deformation in Non-metallic inclusions in steel. (Yongkun, Y.; et al. 2022)

Our Services

Our extensive library of references for most standard materials allows our team to identify most polymer components with a formulation. With years of experience in rubber and plastics, our experts utilize material deformation and reverse engineering to meet a range of needs. We offer complete deformation analysis to identify and quantify all components of complex formulations. Our expert chemists can not only identify the major and minor components of a formulation with high accuracy, but can also successfully recombine these ingredients to define the manufacturing process of the formulation. Our advanced wet chemistry knowledge-based analysis and extraction techniques allow us to successfully reverse engineer hundreds of formulations for a large number of products, and provide detailed information on the identity and quantity of ingredients.

• Ensure Product Consistency

Reverse engineering of products ensures batch-to-batch consistency and can ensure that products always perform as specified. We conduct trial batches of products and advise customers on how to manufacture products safely and accurately.

• Resolve Manufacturer Problems

Direct improvements or changes to formulations to differentiate them from existing products or to provide additional functionality. Avoid or minimize the impact of common manufacturing problems such as decreased product quality, increased production costs, and changes in ingredient availability by gaining a full understanding of your product and its manufacturing process.

• Identify Contaminants

Our wet chemistry technology can detect contaminants or impurities at very low levels, allowing you to quickly and effectively identify problems, correct defects and avoid recalls.

• Analyze Raw Materials

Analyze products from potential suppliers and assess their suitability, purity and consistency.

• Analyze Competitor Products

Competitive analysis of materials or ingredients in competitors' products to identify any differences and how this may impact performance.

• Investigate Patent Infringement

Our deformation analysis services can help you confirm or disprove concerns that a competitor is infringing on your intellectual property, or prove that your own formulation does not violate an existing patent.

• Quality Assessment and Control

Identify potentially harmful or banned ingredients in your product so that you can modify the formulation with alternative ingredients. We can also advise on substitutes and alternatives when formulations contain banned or environmentally questionable substances.

Figure 2. Schematic of inclusion morphologies before and after rolling deformation. (Yongkun, Y.; et al. 2022)

Chemical Analysis

• Proximate analysis: such as measuring the loss on drying of volumetric properties such as moisture.
• Component analysis: such as identifying or measuring the properties or quantity of a substance in a formulation

Capabilities to Analyze Various Materials

• Cured or uncured elastomers
• Thermoplastic composites
• Thermoset materials and composites and products
• Polymer additives and compounding ingredients
• Other polymer-based products, including:
• Coatings
• Adhesives
• Inks
• Paints

Figure 3. Morphology and elements distribution before and after deformation. (Yongkun, Y.; et al. 2022)

Deformations can Identify and Quantify:

• Primary and secondary ingredients
• Active, inactive and trace ingredients
• Matrix resins, polymer resins and antioxidants
• Binders, fillers, dispersants and synergists
• Heat stabilizers and UV stabilizers
• Activators and inhibitors
• Flame retardants
• Pigments, additives and wetting agents
• Impact modifiers, reinforcing fibers and extenders
• Functional groups
• Inorganic and organic materials