According to the International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry (ICTAC), thermal analysis is a group of techniques in which the material to be analyzed is subjected to a defined temperature program, and the change in the physical/chemical property of the material is measured as a function of temperature and/or time. In the defined temperature program, the temperature is controlled and programmed as a function of time, temperature change per unit time (i.e., heating rate, °C/min) or the holding time at a fixed temperature. On the other hand, the control system in the controlled-rate thermal analysis (CRTA) is not the temperature but the rate of change in a sample. For example, the sample’s mass-loss rate in the controlled-rate TG (or Dynamic TG) or the rate of change of a dimension (e.g., the contraction rate) of a sample in the controlled-rate TMA (or Dynamic TMA) is controlled and measured as a parameter in this technique.
Yasuaki Masuda and Lani Llego Celiz