The quantitative thermal analysis of polymers, biological, as well as pharmaceutical materials with and without water are presented based on measurements by adiabatic calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC), and fast scanning calorimetry (FSC). The experimental heat capacities of polymers, biopolymer-water systems, and other materials are linked to terms of molecular motion in the entire range of useful temperature using the Advanced Thermal Analysis System (ATHAS). The low-temperature heat capacities, Cp, of dry materials in the solid state, below the glass transition, were linked to their vibrational spectra based on the group and skeletal vibration contributions. The experimental heat capacities in the liquid state were linked to an approximate vibrational, conformational, and anharmonic (external) motion of amorphous polymeric materials in the range of temperature above glass transition. The presented approach for dry materials was extended to hydrated materials specifically for polymer-water systems. The experimental heat capacities of the investigated materials were compared over the entire range of temperatures with reference baselines of solid, vibrational, and liquid Cp for quantitative thermal analysis. The results are presented in detail for dry poly(lactic acid), poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVMe), starch, poly(amino acid)s, silk, glucose, roxithromycin and PVMe-water, starch-water, and silk-water systems.

Interpretation of the heat capacity of polymeric and non-polymeric materials in the absence and presence of water

247th National Meeting (2014)

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