Thermal Analysis

Thermal analysis is a series of laboratory techniques that measure physical and chemical properties of materials as a function of temperature and time. Thermal analysis results provide insight into the structure and quality of both starting materials and finished products. The physical structure (amorphous, crystalline, semi-crystalline) of a material creates a set of physical properties, which in turn define end-use product properties, such as texture and storage stability. Areas of application include quality assurance, product development, and research into new and existing materials, formulations, and processing conditions. This chapter covers the principles, experimental conditions, common measurements, and applications of the two most frequently used thermal analysis techniques, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Also covered is modulated temperature DSC (TMDSC). This chapter includes illustrated application of thermal analysis to a variety of food materials.