
Thermal Analysis

Dennis Ndaya, Ph.D.
- dennis.ndaya@uconn.edu
- 860.486.1040
Faculty Scientific Advisers
Location
Campus Address
Mailing Address
25 King Hill Road, Unit 3136
Storrs, CT 06269-3136
Instrumentation

Quantachrome NOVA 2000e
The Nova 2000e is a surface area and pore size analyzer. It uses a nitrogen absorption/desorption process to characterize powders and pellets. Data obtained include single and multi-point BET surface area measurements, pore size distribution, total pore volume, and average pore radius.

TA Instruments DSC 2920
An older model DSC that measures thermal transitions in the temperature range of -150°C to 600°C. The DSC 2920 cannot be used for controlled cooling experiments but can be cooled to sub-ambient temperatures with liquid nitrogen or ice. There is a Pressure DSC cell that can be used with this module.

TA Instruments DSC Q Series
The Q-20 and the Q-100 are connected to RCS coolers and have a temperature range of -90°C to 425°C.The Q-100 has Modulated DSC capability. MDSC increases the amount of information that can be obtained from a single experiment. In addition to transition temperatures, melting and crystallization and heat capacity, modulated DSC provides an improved resolution of transitions that overlap or occur only a few degrees apart, an increased sensitivity to weak transitions, and separation of reversing and non-reversing phenomena.

TA Instruments TGA Q-500
Measures weight loss as a function of temperature or time in inert or oxidizing atmospheres. Temperature range is ambient to 1000°C. The instruments are equipped with autosamplers capable of running 16 samples in sequence. Both are capable of running high resolution TGA.The TGA can be used in conjuction with a SRS QMS Series Gas Analyzer. The gas analyzer is a mass spectrometer with a range of 1-200 amu.

TA Instruments SDT Q-600
Simultaneous DSC (DTA) and TGA. Allows the simultaneous measurement of heat flow, transition temperature and weight changes in a material. Temperature range is ambient to 1500°C.

Arizona Instruments Computrac Vapor-Pro Moisture Analyzer
Detects 10 ppm water to 100% water. Solid samples (10 mg – 20 g) are introduced into the system in 25 ml septum bottles. The bottle is heated (25-275°C) and nitrogen gas is used to drive the volatiles out of the bottle. Moisture is read by a Relative Humidity Sensor. Analysis time is approximately 5-30 minutes. The results are comparable to those obtained by KF titration.

Nicomp 370 DLS Particle Sizing System
Uses dynamic light scattering to characterize the size distribution of particles (0.5 nm to 6 micron diameter) suspended in a solvent.

Thermo Cahn 322 Dynamic Contact Angle Analyzer
The Dynamic Contact Angle analyzer (DCA) can be used to measure dynamic contact angle, surface tension, interfacial tension, wicking, and critical micelle concentration (CMC). Measurements can be made using solid samples such as rods, plates or fibers with known perimeters.

Rame Hart Model 100 Goniometer
Used to determine the static contact angle of a liquid droplet on a solid surface (with 0° being defined as absolute wetting and 180° as completely non-wetting).

Bausch and Lomb Abbe Refractometer
Measures refractive index of liquid samples. The prism cases are hollow and allow for circulation of a constant temperature liquid. |

Fisher Scientific Isotemp Muffle Furnace
Temperature control from 50°C to 1125°C with digital temperature read-out. Equipped with a port for operation with external gases. The internal dimensions of the furnace are 6” L x 10” H x 4” W.

Bench Top IEC Model CL Clinical Centrifuge
Six 15 ml buckets. Variable speed control with a maximum speed of 7100 rpm.