Recent Developments in Thermal Methods for the Characterization of Polymers

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Abstract
It is safe to conclude that the application of DTA, DSC, and TMA to problems in polymer characterization are principally limited by the imagination of the scientist. Modern instrumentation has the required sensitivity to measure almost any thermodynamic property of a polymer system given proper experiment design. The major areas for improvement lie not so much in instrument design but in data reduction and interpretation. The information contained in a well run DTA, DSC, or TMA curve far exceeds the information deduced by modern techniques. We are now at the point that mass spectrometry reached in the early 1960's. We are flooded with recorder charts. Progress in thermal analysis lies in removing the recorder from the data reduction link and introducing the advanced means of data acquisition already in service in mass spectrometry, gel and gas chromatography, x-ray diffraction, and transform spectrometry. There is no instrumental reason why a single DTA or DSC scan should not give in neatly printed form the specific heat, transition heat, and heat of reaction or decomposition as a function of temperature. The thermal analysis of polymers reaches its greatest power in conjunction with other methods of characterization such as chromatography and x-ray diffraction. Because of the dynamic nature of most thermal methods, processes which reach equilibrium quickly have been the most frequently studied. However, as discussed earlier, less rapid equilibrium studies can be treated isothermally with much the same equipment, given a knowledge of the critical parameters. A critical review of a rapidly moving area of analytical science can remain current but a short time. However, it is hoped that the partial bibliography and references to current texts will furnish an introduction to modern developments some time after the currency of this text has vanished. The development of specific journals in the field, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Thermochemica Acta, should encourage a concentration of thermal data in the future which has been lacking in the past. The frequent symposia sponsored by the American Chemical Society and other agencies also furnish an opportunity for coherence in the field.

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