Instrument Specialists Inc has been involved in the thermal analysis community for over 25 years. We service customers from experienced to beginner level in thermal analysis; providing products and support. Offering a full line of thermal analyzers including our DSC, TGA, STA and TMA. This article will be looking deeper into the analysis that can be conducted with our DSC.

To begin, thermal analysis is the study where the properties of materials are analyzed as they change with temperature or time. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a thermoanalytical technique where the difference in the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a sample and reference (control) are measured as a function of temperature. The main application of DSC is studying phase transitions, including melting, glass transitions, or exothermic decompositions.

Our DSC detects the phase transition of samples by measuring the flow of heat needed to undergo a physical transformation while maintaining the same temperature as the reference. For example, as a solid sample melts to a liquid it will require more heat flowing to the sample to increase its temperature at the same rate as the reference. This is due to the absorption of heat by the sample as it undergoes the endothermic phase transition from a solid to a liquid. Whereas, an example of an exothermic process (such as crystallization) is where a sample requires less heat to raise the sample temperature. Differential scanning calorimetry can also be used to observe more subtle phase changes, such as glass transitions.

These techniques are used across a wide range of applications, both as a routine quality test and as a research tool. The equipment is easy to calibrate, using low melting indium for example, and is a rapid and reliable method of thermal analysis.

Some further examples of tests that can be run with our DSC include the following. With this instrument it is possible to observe the small energy changes that occur as a matter transitions from a solid to a liquid crystal and from a liquid crystal to an isotropic liquid. Safety screening where the stability of a substance to heat can be assessed through the presence of an exothermic event.

For the polymer chemist, DSC is a handy tool for studying curing processes, which allows the fine tuning of polymer properties. As well as being used to check the composition of polymers.  The pharmaceutical industry uses DSC analysis to have well-characterized drug compounds in order to define processing parameters. In food science research, DSC analysis can be used in conjunctions with other thermal analytical techniques to determine water dynamics. Finally, it is known that it is possible to use DSC analysis to find solidus and liquidus temperature of a metal alloy.

If you have further questions about DSC analysis give us a call! Instrument Specialists Inc is proud to be your partner in thermal analysis!