Optimization of Experimental Parameters in TMDSC. The influence of non-linear and non-stationary thermal response

To treat data from temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC) in terms of complex or reversing heat capacity firstly one should pay attention that the response is linear and stationary because this is a prerequisite for data evaluation. The reason for non-linear and non-stationary thermal response is discussed and its influence on complex (reversing) heat capacity determination is shown. The criterion for linear and stationary response is proposed. This allows to choose correct experimental conditions for any complex heat capacity measurement. In the case when these conditions can not be fulfilled because of experimental restrictions one can estimate the influence of non-linearity and non-stationarity on measured value of complex or reversing heat capacity. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.