Thermogravimetric analysis is highly beneficial for overseeing quality control and ensuring numerous industries, including chemical, petroleum, pharmaceutical, and polymer manufacturers, meet various safety standards.
This process can uncover much about a material, including its structure, purity, and how quickly it dries, combusts, or decomposes. It can also examine how well it absorbs liquid and remains stable under different heat levels.
Fundamentals of Thermogravimetric Analysis
Thermogravimetric analysis calculates sample mass during:
- Cooling
- Heating
- Periods of steady temperature
The primary output is a thermogram—its plot represents the correlation between sample mass and temperature or time.
Through this evaluation, essential data can be determined about a material’s absorbed moisture content, decomposition temperatures, and thermal stability.
It can also identify numerous components, including fillers, reinforcements, and plasticizers in polymers.
Image Credit: XRF Scientific
The Principle of Operation
The principle of operation of thermogravimetric analysis is simple yet powerful. A sample is put in a small pan or crucible and then in a furnace with an accurately controlled temperature program.
The sample then undergoes a controlled temperature regime, which usually involves heating at a continual rate; isothermal (constant temperature) conditions can also be employed.
During heating, alterations in sample mass are constantly recorded by a highly sensitive balance. These mass transformations relate to numerous physical and chemical processes, including decomposition, dehydration, and oxidation.
Key Components of Thermogravimetric Analysis
- Balance system: The core of the thermogravimetric analysis tool is a highly accurate balance that identifies small changes in mass down to the microgram and nanogram scale.
- Furnace: Its furnace achieves high temperatures often up to 1000 °C or more. This controlled heating rate is necessary when thermally treating the sample.
- Temperature control: Accurate temperature control is crucial for precise thermogravimetric analysis measurements. It includes controlling the heating rate and atmosphere. Depending on the use, inert, oxidative, or reducing atmospheres can be employed.
- Data acquisition and analysis software: Current thermogravimetric analysis tools have advanced software for recording, analyzing, and interpreting data.
Applications of Thermogravimetric Analysis
Thermogravimetric analysis has numerous uses across many sectors as it delivers comprehensive data on material properties. Some key uses include:
- Material characterization: Establishing the configuration of complex materials, such as composites, pharmaceuticals, and polymers, by detecting their components from their thermal decomposition profiles.
- Thermal stability: Evaluating a material’s thermal stability is critical when materials endure high temperatures.
- Lifetime prediction: By studying decomposition kinetics, thermogravimetric analysis assists in predicting material lifespan under specific thermal conditions.
- Moisture and volatile content analysis: Thermogravimetric analysis is extremely efficient in measuring a material’s moisture and volatile content, which is critical for countless industrial procedures.
Benefits and Restrictions
Benefits
- Versatility: Thermogravimetric analysis can evaluate many materials, including ceramics, composites, metals, and polymers.
- Quantitative analysis: It delivers quantitative data on material composition and thermal stability.
- High sensitivity: This instrument can identify minute mass fluctuations, making it appropriate for examining smaller samples.
Restrictions
- Sample size and homogeneity: The method demands a small but homogenous representative sample.
- Results interpretation: Interpreting thermogravimetric analysis data can be complicated, particularly when handling materials that endure multiple concurrent or intersecting processes.
- Atmosphere control: The furnace's atmosphere can massively impact results, so the gas environment demands careful selection and control.
A Key Tool for Various Applications
Employing thermogravimetric analysis principles can reveal more about a material’s reactivity, including how its molecules’ energy can affect its physical properties.
As time progresses, thermogravimetric analysis devices, including thermogravimetric analyzers, will continually evolve. One way to do this is to computerize thermogravimetric analysis technology to make tools more effective.
For those using thermogravimetric analysis to meet quality control requirements or seeking to understand its principles, XRF Scientific offers tailored solutions to support your work.
The XRTGA-1100 is recommended as a starting point. This thermogravimetric analyzer is suitable for various materials. It features an advanced easy-to-use system designed for rapid temperature adjustments. Its 30-sample carousel is ideal for high-demand laboratory settings.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by XRF Scientific.
For more information on this source, please visit XRF Scientific.