It depends on what you want to measure. TGA is useful determining relative weight percents of organic and inorganic components, degradation temperature, etc. while DSC gives you information about the glass transition temperature, heat capacity, etc. A combination of the two pieces is called an SDTAnd is very useful.

It depends on what you want to measure. TGA is useful determining relative weight percents of organic and inorganic components, degradation temperature, etc. while DSC gives you information about the glass transition temperature, heat capacity, etc. A combination of the two pieces is called an SDTAnd is very useful.

You can take advantage of using them simultaneously while giving you TGA and DSC in real time. It really depends what properties you are interested.

The question indeed must be more correctly formulated. There is no "best" method for anything, it is all depending on the target parameters one need to know about the material. If STA - simultaneous thermal analysis (TGA+DSC) is considered (this is ICTAC standard procedure), a coupling method may be added suhc as MS, GC or FTIR gas analysis to have even more complete picture.

Okay so to repose the question differently...if you can afford to buy only one of the two (TGA or DSC) and must decide, which do you think gets more frequently used?

Dear Sinan: If you only can afford one, then such answer must rely on the main needs you have. Otherwise, look for a SDT -as Alex Bruce has wrote already- it is very useful.

The properties you are interested in determines the uses of the any one. or combination of both is useful

Just like you I had to buy only one instrument, and I definitely decided to buy a TGA equipped with a DSC accessory. With it, I can do anything I want, and a bit later I could couple it with a mass spectrometer. A DSC alone would not have allowed to do that. TGA is more powerful as it can bring much more information than DSC alone, as soon as it is equipped with the relevant DSC accessory. The only thing tou can't do is investigating big samples in the case you need very high accuracy for evidencing phenomena of low magnitude. This is the only disadvantage, related to the very small size of the sample holder in a DSC accessory for TGA.

Alain

You should use synchronous to obtain more information about the materials. Coupling with FTIR or QMS will give you more interesting data. But I want to tell you few problems with samples....

In TGA device you can investigate more corrosive samples with a higher content of volatiles with an argon (or another gas) as a carrier. In DSC its a problem to prevent the corrosion of sensor by the volatiles exhausted from the sample. Therefore TGA could increase the range of samples that you can investigate, but the measuring system of DSC is very sensitive to any chemical influence (solving of the problem are in a using of high carrier flow rates, but it decreases sensitivity of DSC measurement).

Therefore, you must know the sample or suggest its nature, otherwise you can broke the device.

The best would be to purchase a simultaneous TGA/DSC apparatus. Explore the different brands, call the suppliers and ask for their best offer; you may find that some german brands have interesting offers. If your budget is limited, it is important to define your needs since you indicateda wide range of materials. For example, glass, ceramics and cements characterization would benefit from DSC, but I am not sure TGA is useful for glass characterization.

The Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is widely used for characterization of polymers, and some studies have been studied the use this thecnique to study assessing the compatibility between polymers. Alex Bruce and others researchers said other applications. I'm currently investigating the use of TGA coupled with FTIR in characterization of the polymer breaks bonds (degradation of polymers). This has allowed understanding mechanisms for degradation of some polymers. We are studying the break of the inter-chain bonds, since that the glass and melting temperatures depend on: chain stiffness (e.g., single vs. double bonds); size, shape of side groups; size of molecule; side branches, defects and others.