International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry

Thermal analysis systems require calibration prior to routine use. In TGA, calibration for mass is carried out by calibrating the microbalance using a set of standard weights, as for any balance system. Temperature calibration is effected by measuring the Curie point temperatures of a suite of International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC) Certified Reference Materials, which have well-defined Curie points. ... 

Detailed suggested guidelines for reporting results can be found in For Better Thermal Analysis produced by the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (7). A summary of the key parameters for DSC experiments is given here for convenience ... 

The offical website of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC) is www.ictac.org... 

The scheme of the elements of the ancient Greek philosophers of some 2500 years ago contained heat (fire) as one of the four basic elements. The other three elements were the phases, gas (air), liquid (water), and solid (earth) as discussed in Sect. 2.5 and Chap. 5. Figure 2.1 is an illustration of this ancient scheme. It is interesting that the logo of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry,... 

The term thermal analysis can be applied to any technique which involves the measurement of a physical quantity while the temperature is changed or maintained in a controlled and measured fashion as expressed in Fig. 2.4. Usually the temperature is, for simplicity, kept constant or increased linearly with time. Recently, it was found advantageous to superimpose a small modulation of the temperature to check for the reversibility of the measurement and to separate the calorimeter response from inadvertent gains or losses that do not occur with this modulation frequency (see Sect. 4.4). The professional organizations of thermal analysis are the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, ICTAC, and the North American Thermal Analysis Society, NAT AS, described in some detail in Figs. 2.5 and 2.6, respectively. The most common journals dealing with thermal analysis techniques and results are ThermochimicaActa and the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. 

All basic techniques of thermal analysis treated in this chapter are already mentioned in Sect. 2.1.3, together with a number of further, less basic techniques. The thermal analysis tools are grouped according to the variables they are designed to determine, as is summarized in Fig. 2.4. The International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, ICT AC, and the regional North American Thermal Analysis Society, NATAS, are the scientific organizations concerned with this field of science (see Figs. 

Reference material sets which are certified by the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC) are available through the US National Institute of Standards and Testing (NIST), and are listed in Appendix 2.2. High-purity metals and organic compounds including polymers have been certified. If the standard reference material must be dispensed with a syringe into the sample vessel (for example cyclohexane), care must be taken to ensure that only one droplet is formed in the sample vessel. Multiple transition peaks will be observed if there is more than one droplet present. The transition temperatures listed in Appendix 2.2 are the statistical mean values of measurements made in a number of laboratories and institutes. The ICTAC reference materials are certified for temperature calibration only and not for enthalpy calibration. The reference temperatures in Appendix 2.1 should be used if very accurate calibration of the instrument is required. In order to determine the heat capacity Cp ) of a sample, sapphire (a-alumina, AI2 O3) is used as a standard reference material. The Cp of... 

The 2nd International Conference on Thermal Analysis was held in Boston, USA, and at the same time the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis (ICTA) was established. ICTA has since been renamed the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC)... 

Two journals (the Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetiy and Thermochimica Ada) devote their contents entirely to TA the Proceedings of the (now) four-yearly Conferences of the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC) constitute an excellent additional. source of research papers. Specific information regarding Proceedings volumes for the nine ICTAC Conferences between 1965 and 1991 is available in [1]. The most complete listing of worldwide TA literature is also found in the ICTAC handbook [1], which in addition gives addresses for national TA societies and important equipment suppliers. The most useful textbooks include [2]-[5]. 

ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) gives the following definition for the DTA technique A technique where the temperature difference between a sample and a reference material is measured while they are subjected to the same temperature variation (heated or cooled) in a controlled atmosphere [25]... 

Thermogravimetry (TG) is defined by ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) as a technique in which the mass change of a substance is measured as a function of temperature whilst the substance is subjected to a controlled temperature programme. In TG experiment, the sample is placed in a crucible which is positioned in a furnace balance detects the mass loss, while the results are presented as a plot of mass against temperature (T) or time (t). The alternative presentation is the derivative of the original experimental curve dm/dt (or dm/dT) plotted against temperature T or time t. 

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