Pico-thermogravimetric material properties analysis using diamond cantilever beam

This paper presents a novel technique for pico-thermo gravimetric analysis of material properties using diamond cantilever beam. The thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was examined using this method and was detected in picogram range. The diamond cantilever beam with CaCO3 particles attached on the tip was introduced in a thermal chamber and the temperature was raised from room temperature to 600 °C. The cantilever beam was operated in vibration mode and the resonant frequency was monitored in real time during the thermal process. From the resonant frequency behavior, there was evidence that the thermal conversion from CaCO3 to CaO starts around 500 °C. This novel technique used very small amount of material and variations of the analyzed material pico-mass at different temperatures were observed from the cantilever beam measurements. The thermal analysis expects a release of carbon dioxide (CO2) which in turn decreases the sample mass. Variations of the sample mass are an indication that the thermal decomposition of the analyzed material started. In this research the information about the conversion temperature was repeatable and highly accurate. The diamond cantilever beam is well suited for the thermal measurements because large variations of temperature produced small changes of the resonant frequency. This novel thermogravimetic technic provides accurate information about the analyzed material mass variations at picogram range during the thermal process.