Calorimetric techniques application areas

An overview of typical calorimetric techniques indicating sensitivities, principal application areas, and the usual data acquired is shown on Table 2.1. A brief summary of advantages and disadvantages of the various tests is also given. The column "principal applications" indicates only the major applications of the respective techniques. In any of the tests listed, it is possible to obtain additional data or to use the test equipment for completely different hazard evaluations once the techniques are fully understood and the tests are run by fully qualified technical personnel. Testing techniques are discussed later in Section 2.3 on Practical Testing. 

The study of acid-base interaction is an important branch of interfacial science. These interactions are widely exploited in several practical applications such as adhesion and adsorption processes. Most of the current studies in this area are based on calorimetric studies or wetting measurements or peel test measurements. While these studies have been instrumental in the understanding of these interfacial interactions, to a certain extent the interpretation of the results of these studies has been largely empirical. The recent advances in the theory and experiments of contact mechanics could be potentially employed to better understand and measure the molecular level acid-base interactions. One of the following two experimental procedures could be utilized (1) Polymers with different levels of acidic and basic chemical constitution can be coated on to elastomeric caps, as described in Section 4.2.1, and the adhesion between these layers can be measured using the JKR technique and Eqs. 11 or 30 as appropriate. For example, poly(p-amino styrene) and poly(p-hydroxy carbonyl styrene) can be coated on to PDMS-ox, and be used as acidic and basic surfaces, respectively, to study the acid-base interactions. (2) Another approach is to graft acidic or basic macromers onto a weakly crosslinked polyisoprene or polybutadiene elastomeric networks, and use these elastomeric networks in the JKR studies as described in Section 4.2.1. 

An understanding of the complex physico-chemical phenomena associated with the formation and behavior of cementitious compounds is facilitated through the application of many different types of investigative methods. Techniques such as NMR, XRD, neutron activation analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, IR/UV spectroscopy, electron microscopy, surface area techniques, pore characterization, zeta potential, vis-cometry, thermal analysis, etc., have been used with some success. Of the thermal analysis techniques the Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TG), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and Conduction Calorimetric methods are more popularly used than others. They are more adaptable, easier to use, and yield important results in a short span of time. In this chapter the application of these techniques will be highlighted and some of the work reported utilizing other related methods will also be mentioned with typical examples. 

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