A discussion of the principles and applications of Modulated Temperature DSC (MTDSC)

The benefits of Modulated Temperature DSC (MTDSC) over conventional differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for studying thermal transitions in materials are reviewed by means of examples. These include the separation of overlapping phenomena such as melting/recrystallization in semi-crystalline materials, the heat capacity variation and enthalpic relaxation at the glass transition, and transitions from the different components of a blend. In addition, examples are presented demonstrating the ability of MTDSC to detect subtle transitions more readily and without loss of resolution. The possibility of measuring heat capacity in quasi-isothermal conditions and the evaluation of the thermal conductivity of a material are explained. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.