Yes, there is a difference between TGA and DTA analysis. In TGA analysis changes in the physical and chemical properties of the materials are measured as a function of increasing temperature. This technique is useful to evaluate the thermal stability of the material. TGA is commonly used to determine the weight loss or weight gain of the material during the process such as sublimation, absorption or desorption etc.
While DTA is a thermoanalytic technique. In this technique material under study and reference material undergo identical thermal cycles while recording the temperature difference between the sample and reference.In this changes in the samples whether endothermic or exothermic are determined as related to the inert reference.In DTA differential temperature is plotted against time or temperature. DTA data provides the transformations or the transitions.
While in case of TGA depends on mass change, temperature change and temperature.
Thermogravimetric Analysis(TGA) measures the amount of weight change of a material, either as a function of increasing temperature, or isothermally as a function of time, in an atmosphere of nitrogen, helium, air, other gas, or in vacuum
Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), quantitatively analyze the chemical composition of substances by observing the thermal behavior of a sample which undergoes reactions and phase changes that involve absorption or emission of heat. DTA similar to Differential Scanning Calorimetry DSC
By using DTA thermo-gram ,Tc the crystallization temperature,Tg the glass transition temperature,Tp peak crystallization temperature ,Tm melting temperature are determined