Thermal Properties and Applications of Polymers III

Dear Colleagues,

Further to the success of the two Special Issues of Polymers “Thermal properties and applications of polymers" and "Thermal properties and applications of polymers II”, we are delighted to reopen the Special Issue, now entitled “Thermal properties and applications of polymers III”.

Over the past decades, thermal analysis has become a key analytical and characterization tool in the field of materials sciences and analytical chemistry. Specific physical and chemical properties of synthetic polymers, nanomaterials, composite materials and biomaterials with different phases and morphology can be determined through thermal analysis. Traditional thermal analysis techniques include differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermomechanical analysis (TMA), dynamic mechanic analysis (DMA), dielectric thermal analysis (DTEA), isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and heat transfer analysis (such as thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity analysis). Some techniques such as DSC have been further developed into modulated-temperature DSC (MTDSC), pressure perturbation calorimetry (PPC), micro/nano DSC, as well as fast-scan DSC (F-DSC). These various thermal methods characterize the mechanical properties, mass, temperature, heat and/or specific heat capacity changes in the thermodynamic and kinetic transitions of different materials, such as low molecular-mass substances, amorphous and semicrystalline synthetic polymers and also biopolymers. Moreover, thermal analysis can also help quantitatively monitor the structural changes of materials during heating, cooling and isothermal measurement. In this Special Issue, we will continue to highlight the recent accomplishments of thermal analysis on polymer-based materials, and illustrate new methods developed in the field. We hope these reviews and research studies can provide a broad view of how material thermodynamic theories and methods have been used in the last decade.

Dr. Xiao Hu
Guest Editor