Differential thermal analysis of polymers. I. The glass transition

Abstract

A differential thermal analysis device (DTA) for measuring the glass and other polymer transitions is described. A theory on the manner in which a glass transition is manifested in a DTA thermogram, and on the manner for obtaining the real value from the thermogram is presented. Experimental results on polymethyl methacrylate and atactic polypropylene verify the various predictions of the theory.