Thermal Analysis

The lab is equipped with a number of different instruments for thermal analysis, a Stanton Redcroft STA 625, a Netzsch STA 409, a Seiko DSC 6200 and TG/DTA 6300 and a TA Instruments Q2000 MDSC. DSC is used for investigating enthalpy changes associated with physical properties of a sample. It measures the amount of energy (heat) absorbed or released by a sample as it is heated, cooled, or held at a constant temperature. Typical applications include determination of melting point temperature, the heat of melting, measurement of the glass transition temperature, curing and crystallization studies and identification of phase transformations and heat capacities. We use it extensively for the characterisation of polymers and composites.

STA also carries out Differential Thermal Analysis (similar to DSC) and simultaneously records thermogravimetric (TG) data. This measures mass change of a specimen as a function of temperature. We have applied this technique to monitor chemical reactions, thermal decompositions, phase changes, absorption and adsorption phenomena and to determine thermal and oxidation stability of materials as well as weight compositions of composite materials or loadings on catalysts.

The STA 409 can also be linked to the Bruker Equinox 55 FTIR by a heated transfer pipe. This allows the group to carry out TG-IR studies. In this technique the gases produced from thermal decomposition are passed to a dedicated heated IR gas cell. IR data is collected in real time and is readily collated with the thermal analysis data.