Real-time analysis of peak shape: a theoretical approach to sample controlled thermal analysis

This paper describes a theoretical Framework, based on real-time analysis o f the shape of thermoanalytical peaks, for two new approaches to sample con trolled thermal analysis (SCTA), These new methods have the common aim of e ffecting changes in the heating rate at a given point in a process (i.e. at a set value of alpha) irrespective of the absolute magnitude of the peaks produced by that process. This permits the automatic on-line optimisation o f the resolution/experiment time ratio without the need for preliminary exp eriments. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.