The role of the temperature errors in DSC scans on the prediction of the average density of nuclei in polymers crystallized under quiescent conditions

Abstract

Following the results of previous works, the methodology used to perform DSC temperature calibrations on cooling from the melting onsets of pure metal standards is briefly presented, together with a discussion of the errors involved. The average true sample temperature in non-isothermal scans is evaluated, and the samples thermal resistance and release of the heat of crystallization duly accounted for. The importance of the above temperature corrections in the definition of a temperature corresponding to half of the phase change in non-isothermal scans is also analyzed when predicting the average density of nuclei in polymer quiescent crystallization experiments at constant cooling rate. Additional sources of error, such as the effect of the samples thickness and the temperature profile within the sample are also briefly discussed.