Pushing the limits of thermal analyses tools: issues, concerns and possible solutions

Characterization/analytical tools are of pivotal importance for understanding the impact of these materials on their properties, applications, and performances. A plethora of analytical tools are in use today for characterization; each one has its strengths and limitations. However, it is important to realize that relevance of any given analytical tool depends on certain parameters, e.g., the length scale (dimension) of the material, its shape and form, simulated conditions (if any) needed for measurements, etc. Otherwise, the whole analyses may become pointless with some irrelevant and/or erroneous information. In this work, the main focus will be to address such issues (along with representative cases) where a cautious understanding is sought for making the researchers aware of the potential analytical errors/misjudgments. Efforts have been laid to elucidate the community with different case studies involving specific examples on thermal characterization techniques (mainly involving differential thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry). One major objective of this presentation will also be to highlight the fact that irrespective of the complexities in the material or within their processes, the thermal analysis techniques have been moving at a rapid pace to alleviate such issues. The results of such progress will be discussed in the ranges of materials in which thermal analysis techniques have been applied