Specific Heat Capacity Measurement

Principles and Techniques for Accurate Specific Heat Capacity Determination by Differential Scanning Calorimetry

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Specific heat capacity
cp as a function of temperature
SubstanceAluminaAluminumLeadPolystyreneWater
cp (Jg-1K-1)0.8950.7760.1291.34.18

 

Specific heat of polystyrene

Direct method

 

Direct method
Direct method

Saphire method

(according to DIN 51007)

Saphire method
Saphire method

IsoStep DSC

 

IsoStep DSC
IsoStep DSC

Steady State ADSC

Steady State ADSC
Steady State ADSC

ADSC

ADSC
ADSC

TOPEM®

TOPEM®
TOPEM®

IsoStep™

  • Accurate cp values using a sapphire standard
  • Separates kinetic effects from changes in heat capacity

Quasi-static
 

ADSC

  • Separation of superimposed effects at a single frequency
 

Single frequency
 

TOPEM®

  • Unique multi-frequency technique
  • Separation of super-imposed effects
  • Most accurate cp data

Multi-frequency and quasi-static

Adjustment and calibration

What Is the Difference between Heat Capacity and Specific Heat Capacity?

Heat capacity Cp is a sample property (independent of mass). Specific heat capacity cp is a material property (dependent of mass).
 

How Is Specific Heat Capacity Calculated from the DSC Heat Flow Curve?

Specific heat capacity cp is the sum of sensible and latent cp.
 

Why Is Knowledge of Specific Heat Capacity Important?

  • For improving technical processes: injection molding, spray drying, crystallization
  • For the safety analysis of: chemical reactors, construction of reactors
  • To calculate other thermodynamic functions such as enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy
  • To evaluate and interpret DSC curves
     

How Can Specific Heat Capacity Be Determined above 700 °C?

Specific heat capacity can be measured in a high temperature range using a TGA/DSC.
 

What Advantages Do Temperature-Modulated Methods Offer for Specific Heat Capacity Determination Compared to the Conventional Sapphire Method?

  • Temperature-modulated methods are less affected by drift compared to the Sapphire method and can achieve accuracies of up to 2%. Heat capacities can also be determined for isothermal conditions using Steady-State, ADSC and TOPEM.
  • Overlapping effects can be separated, for example, glass transition and crystallization processes.
     

Applications

Dedicated Cp Applications

Heat Capacity Determination at High Temperatures by TGA/DSC. Part 1: DSC Standard Procedures
Part 1 of this series describes how the cp values of inorganic materials can be measured up to a temperature of 1600 °C with the TGA/DSC1.
Heat Capacity Determination at High Temperatures by TGA/DSC. Part 2: Applications
This second article presents various applications such as the determination of cp changes at glass transitions and in 2nd order phase transitions. It...

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