Deformulation (Reverse Engineering)
Deformulation, or reverse engineering, of adhesives is the breaking down of a formulation into its basic components, often to provide a comparative analysis, or answer questions of quality.
Adhesives and sealants usually have only a few components. The basic approach to deformulation is similar to the deformulation of coatings. The components must be separated in order to be identified and quantified.
Extraction with proprietary solvents is usually the first step. The extractions tend to be more difficult, however, since many components have similar chemistries so the separations are not as clean.
Once materials are isolated, then they can be identified using a number of analytical techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).