A comparison of pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for the characterisation of automative paint samples

It has been shown that by using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), it is possible to discriminate between a variety of base coat, solid paint and clear coat samples of automotive paints in commercial use from a wide range of car manufacturers. Some of the solid paints and clear coats were pairs of samples indistinguishable by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).