THE BASE-LINE CONSTRUCTION AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE MEASUREMENT OF HEAT WITH DIFFERENTIAL SCANNING CALORIMETERS

In DSC's the shape of the interpolated baseline under a peak is determined by a change in the heat capacity of the sample and the heat transfer characteristics between sample and temperature sensor. The interpolated baseline is constructed according to formal criteria, experimentally or analytically on the basis of physico-chemical assumptions on the change of the heat capacity during transition. By the example of the melting of ice this paper shows analytically on the basis of a simple calorimeter model and a synthetic measuring curve, and experimentally, that the uncertainty of the enthalpy determination depends in general on the type of baseline and is in the order of magnitude of the repeatability of the DSC's (+/- 0.5%).