B Degamber and G F Fernando 2006 Smart Mater. Struct. 15 1054 doi:10.1088/0964-1726/15/4/019
B Degamber and G F Fernando
Show affiliationsThis paper describes a novel technique to obtain simultaneous spectral, thermal and dilatometric data on polymers as they are heated through their glass transition temperatures and melting points. The technique links an infrared spectrometer and an optical spectrum analyser, through a combination of fibre optic probes, to a custom-modified differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The latter is used to obtain thermal-based information such as the enthalpy of fusion and the glass transition whilst the infrared spectrometer is used to obtain chemical information of the polymer sample. The optical spectrum analyser was used in tandem with the fibre optic probe to obtain simultaneous dilatometric data from the processed sample using an interferometric technique. This combined and simultaneous analytical technique negates the need for three independent experiments to obtain thermal, spectral and chemical information. Another advantage of this simultaneous technique is that the polymer sample is subject to a single and controlled thermal environment.
Soft matter, liquids and polymers
Condensed matter: electrical, magnetic and optical
Instrumentation and measurement
Optics, quantum optics and lasers
Issue 4 (August 2006)
Received 19 November 2004, in final form 3 April 2006
Published 30 June 2006
B Degamber and G F Fernando 2006 Smart Mater. Struct. 15 1054
J J García-Ripoll et al 2005 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 38 S567
R P Barclay 1993 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 5 L235
Janne Alanen et al JHEP11(2009)014
K Tapasa et al 2006 Modelling Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 14 1153
Aaron Fenster et al 2001 Phys. Med. Biol. 46 R67
S Urazhdin et al 2004 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 17 88
I P Iliev et al 2008 Quantum Electron. 38 436
R Willink 2007 Metrologia 44 105
M R James 2005 J. Opt. B: Quantum Semiclass. Opt. 7 S198