Manufacturer of temperature controlled microscopy instruments Linkam has launched the Optical DSC450 for the simultaneous visualisation of thermal transition experiments for improved materials characterisation.
Optical DSC
The optical DSC450 was developed by Linkam’s engineers as a constructive solution towards practical solutions. The device is intended as a Differential Scanning Calorimeter for measurements of up to 450°C.
Differential scanning calorimetry, DSC, is used to measure temperatures and heat flow associated with thermal changes in a material. It’s commonly used in investigation, comparison and end-use performance evaluation of materials in research, quality control and production applications. It measures properties such as glass transitions, phase changes, melting points, crystallisation and degradation temperatures.
This system has been optimised for those wishing to measure the transition temperatures and enthalpy changes of their samples. The designs allow mounting of the stage on a microscope granting image and time lapse recording of sample transitions with high detail.
The Optical DSC450 allows the user to measure glass transitions and melting behaviour of a wide range of substances whilst accurately controlling temperature from -196 °C to 450 °C. The atmosphere of the stage can also be purged with gas as required by the user. A new feature aims to increase the characterisation capabilities of the DSC system by combining it with imaging capabilities such as the new LINK Digital Imaging module. The module can enable additional information to be obtained by correlating optical changes such as colour with temperature. More so, the new TASC analysis tool can enable structural changes in samples to be tracked and quantified optically. It can measure local transition temperatures allowing different points on a sample to be identified.
The new DSC system is great tool to use in research and quality control to measure quantitative values for glass transitions, melting peaks and sample purity and, when combined with TASC, even sample homogeneity.