Progress of Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Its Application in Polymer Characterization

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a highly efficient tool to characterize the thermal properties and to investigate thermal reactions of materials owing to its advantages of simplicity and universality as well as the well-defined measurement results with a clear physical meaning. In recent years, the tremendous development of DSC technique has greatly extended the measurement range for polymer characterization, facilitating the further research on thermodynamics and kinetics of physical transitions in polymer materials. Temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC), a remarkable advance in DSC technique in 1990s, introduces scanning rate perturbation into the traditional linear heating rate so that the overall heat flux could be separated into reversible and non-reversible signals and furthermore, the reversing heat capacity could be measured in the quasi-isothermal process. Fast scanning chip-calorimetry (FSC) is a new progress of DSC technique in recent years, which adopts a miniature chip made of silicon nitride thin films to replace the traditional crucible as the sample holder and temperature controller, thus achieving ultra-fast heating and cooling rates for the measurement with sample mass on micro- and nanogram scale, which makes it possible to analyze the structural reorganization phenomena occurring frequently during temperature scanning and to simulate the actual condition of polymer processing. This review starts with the fundamentals of thermal analysis, followed with a sequential introduction of DSC, TMDSC and FSC by covering their histories, principles, experimental skills as well as their practical examples of polymer characterization. In the end, the prospects of the development and application of DSC are highlighted. We hope this survey would help the readers to gain a deeper understanding of the commonly used DSC technique and encourages them to expand further applications of DSC techniques in polymer characterization.

Automated summary

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is an efficient tool for characterizing thermal properties and investigating thermal reactions of materials. Recent developments in DSC technique have greatly expanded the measurement range for polymer characterization. Temperature-modulated DSC (TMDSC) and fast scanning chip-calorimetry (FSC) are significant advances in DSC technology, introducing scanning rate perturbation and ultra-fast heating and cooling rates for measurements on micro- and nanogram scale samples.