Advanced experimental techniques in polymer thermodynamics

Scanning transitiometry is at the centre of several new developments to generate original unprecedented data over extended ranges of temperatures and pressures. Simultaneous in situ spectroscopic readings noticeably extend the performances of scanning transitiometry. The modulation of temperature superimposed to temperature scanning for thermal analysis is a major step forward to unambiguously identify glass transitions from other overlapping phenomena. The combination of a weighing technique (vibrating-wire technique) with a pressure decay technique (p,V,T-technique) allows the simultaneous estimation, in situ, of the same polymer sample, the gas solubility and the concomitant polymer swelling.