At first glance it may seem presumptuous to want to add yet another to the numerous books on Differential Thermal Analysis (DT A). Thermoanalytical methods have been in use for some time, as shown by the more than five thousand publications containing DT A or TG curves listed by SMOTHERS and CHIANG in the bibliography to their handbook and abstracted in the several volumes of Thermal Analysis Abstracts (TAA), edited by J. P. REDFERN for the International Con federation for Thermal Analysis (ICT A). Every three years the proceed ings of ICT A meetings are published, bringing the latest results of thermoanalytic research. There is also the Scifax DT A Data Index, edited by R. C. MACKENZIE (1962) and modeled on the ASTM pattern card index (used for X-ray investigations), a compilation of the DT A data for several hundred minerals, and inorganic and organic materials. The theoretical foundations of thermogravimetry and DT A have been described in detail by LEHMANN, DAS and PAETSCH (1953), R. C. MACKENZIE (1957, 1970), DUVAL (1963), WENDLANDT (1964), GARN (1965), F. PAULIK et al. (1966), SMOTHERS and CHIANG (1966), and KEATTCH (1969). Thermoanalytical results are strongly influenced by various factors relative to preparation and equipment (see 1-2. 4 of this study). This is the reason why we frequently find, in these books as well as in the Scifax-Card catalog, contradictory data on the same substance.

to Thermal Analysis Techniques and Applications Edited by Michael E. Brown Chemistry Department, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW eBook ISBN: 0-306-48404-8 Print ISBN: 1-4020-0472-9 ©2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Print ©2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht All rights reserved No part of this eBook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written consent from the Publisher Created in the United States of America Visit Kluwer Online at: http://kluweronline. com and Kluwer's eBookstore at: http://ebooks. kluweronline. com CONTENTS Preface to the First Edition, Chapman & Hall, London, 1988 ix About the First Edition of this Book x Preface to the Second Edition xi 1. INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Definition and History 1 1. 2 Thermal Analysis Instruments 4 References 11 2. THERMAL EVENTS 2. 1 Introduction 13 2. 2 The Solid State 13 2. 3 Reactions of Solids 14 2. 4 Decomposition of Solids 15 2. 5 Reaction with the Surrounding Atmosphere 16 2. 6 Solid-Solid Interactions 16 References 17 3. THERMOGRAVIMETRY (TG) Introduction 3. 1 19 3. 2 The Balance 19 3. 3 Heating the Sample 21 3. 4 The Atmosphere 24 3. 5 The Sample 26 3. 6 Temperature Measurement 26 3. 7 Temperature Control 28 Sample Controlled Thermal Analysis (SCTA) 29 3. 8 3. 9 Calibration 36 3. 10 Presentation of TG Data 37 3.