The main thermal properties of a material can be measured through the following instruments:

• Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Mettler-Toledo DSC 822
• Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), Perkin Elmer mod. Pyris 1
• Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC), TA Instruments Mod. Q200 with analysis type MDSC (modulated DSC)
• Thermo-gravimetric Balance (TGA), Seiko Instruments mod. Exstar 6000
• Thermo-mechanical analyzer (TMA), Perkin Elmer mod. TMA 7
• Ultrasound probe series "VIBRA CELL" Sonics mod. VC 750

The DSC is one of the most used instruments for thermal analysis of materials. With this technique we can study phenomena that occur with release or absorption of heat, and transitions that occur simply as a "jump" in specific heat as the glass transition, etc.. Calorimetry is also used in industrial quality control. The determined properties include glass transitions, kinetics of crystallization, phase changes, melting temperatures, thermal and oxidative stability, cure kinetics of thermosetting polymers. MDSC (temperature modulated DSC) offers all the advantages of a standard DSC, but also allows the separation of the signal heat flow in its total reversible and irreversible components, also allows the separation of events that can be overlapped, such as molecular relaxation and glass transitions. The measurement range of the DSC is from -90 ° C up to 600 ° C, with the possibility of measuring heat flow in isothermal and dynamic mode.

The thermogravimetric analysis, TGA, is the second best-known technique for thermal analysis. Through thermogravimetry, it is possible to determine the weight changes in a material as a function of temperature (or time) under certain conditions of controlled atmosphere. Its main application includes the determination of thermal stability and composition of materials. TGA equipment is normally used in all research stages such as in quality control and analysis of thermal degradation of polymeric material, in determining the content of fiber and/or reinforcement in a composite material, in the analysis of moisture and residual solvent content in the material. The instrument works in inert and oxidative environment, with a maximum temperature of 1100 ° C. Platinum and ceramic crucibles can be used for TG – DTA analysis. Our instruments also combines the flexibility of the termogravimetric technique with information obtained from the detection of DTA calorimetric signal. The system can simultaneously be used for a wide range of applications, such as oxidation, water content, ash content, accelerated degradation tests, reaction time.

The thermo-mechanical analysis, TMA is a technique used to measure the dimensional changes in materials as a function of temperature or time. The technique consists in using a probe that imposes a load on the sample with super positioning of the temperature. When the sample is heated, cooled or maintained under isothermal conditions, the dimensional changes and transitions such as the glass transition are measured. The configurations of the probes depended on the type of test. In our laboratories can adopt three configurations (expansion, penetration and measurements on film) for temperatures up to -150 ° C and maximum temperatures of 600 ° C.

The ultrasound probe (power 750 W, frequency 20 Hz) can handle variable sample volumes between 10 and 250 ml and can be used for the dispersion of nanometer-sized fillers in polymer matrices liquid.