ABSTRACT
There are a number of mass spectrometry techniques available and directly applicable to polymers. Since polymeric materials are expected to perform under a variety of temperature conditions, thermal properties are important. Major instrumentation involved with the generation of thermal property behavior of materials includes thermogravimetric analysis (TG, TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), differential thermal analysis (DTA), torsional braid analysis (TBA), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), thermogravimetric-mass spectrometry analysis (TG-MS), and pyrolysis gas chromatography (PGC). Possible determinations from DSC/DTA measurements includes: heat of transition, heat of reaction, sample purity, phase diagram, specific heat, sample identification, percentage incorporation of a substance, reaction rate, rate of crystallization or melting, solvent retention, and activation energy. Thus, thermocalorimetric analysis can be a useful tool in describing the chemical and physical relationship of a polymer with respect to temperature. This chapter focuses on other areas of testing, emphasizing thermal and electrical properties and on the characterization of polymers by spectral means.
