Plastics — Fast differential scanning calorimetry (FSC) — Chip calorimetry

This document specifies the characteristics of non-adiabatic fast differential scanning calorimeters, also covered by the general abbreviation FSC having an open specimen geometry in which specimens are placed directly onto active measurement areas of chip sensors based on Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) membrane technology, without encapsulation in closed crucibles and ovens.

Due to the open specimen geometry, this document is applicable to very small specimens having masses of not greater than 1 μg only. The occurrence of high temperature gradients during measurements can be prevented by keeping specimen thicknesses as small as possible.

The use of very low specimen masses enables achievement of very high scanning rates in the order of several thousand K/s, both in heating and cooling mode whereby lower specimen masses and thicknesses allow higher heating and cooling rates. Typically, low scanning rates of FSC overlap with high scanning rates of conventional DSC covered by ISO 11357 1, thus enabling connection to conventional DSC results.

NOTE 1 Due to the sensor layout FSC is also called chip calorimetry.

NOTE 2 FSC stands for Fast Scanning Calorimetry but also for F