Thermal analysis is the study of the relationship between a sample property and its temperature. Applications include:
- Evaluation of thermal stability
- Detection of the glass transition
- Determination of the amount of volatile matter in a sample
- Measurement of melting point temperature and enthalpy
- Analysis of the viscoelastic behaviour
Want to learn how we do thermal analysis?
Browse our thermal & polymer characterisation library to learn how we detect glass transitions, how we measure molecular mass distributions and more thermal analysis methods.
Visit our Moodle course, topic: Thermal & Polymer Characterisation to watch introductory videos on our techniques (internal users only).
Discover another way to measure the glass transition in polymers and learn how thermogravimetry can be used to determine the amount of volatile matter in a sample.
Our equipment
We host the following thermal analysis instruments:
| Technique | Instrument | Temperature range | Acquisition program | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) | Setsys Evolution TGA 16/18 by Setaram | 30°C to 1000°C | Calisto | coupled with a mass spectrometer for evolving gas analysis |
| Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) | DSC Q20 by TA Instruments | -80°C to 400°C | Q series | for solid samples |
| Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) | DMA1 by Mettler Toledo | -170°C to 600°C | STARe | for films and bars in bending, tension and compression |