The Microscopy of thermal processes

Microscopy, microanalysis and materials characterisation.

Unlike many of our competitors, the Intertek MSG Microscopy team are well aware of the fact that chemicals, materials and, ultimately, products exist in a very real world of changing temperatures.  Put quite simply a microstructure that performs well at room temperature could change and cause catastrophic processing problems below freezing or at elevated temperatures.

On the other hand, these materials often have a "thermal history" locked into them from previous processing operations and the control of this thermal history can be quite crucial to product performance.

Hot and Cold stage microscopy, whether it be Confocal for phase distribution studies or Polarised Light Microscopy for the assessment of crystallization processes, play a crucial role in investigating how structure – property relationships depend on variations in temperature.

The Intertek MSG microscopy team  have many years of materials science experience; we understand the processes that control microstructures and ultimately how these microstructures influence product properties.

Critically, and unusually, microscopy team members work closely with our thermal analysis team colleagues. This relationship allows customers to access an unfettered micro-thermal processing capability that has enabled improvements in the processing of foodstuffs, engineering plastics, films, adhesives, specialty chemicals and many other products.

The combination of thermal analysis, the microscopy of thermal processes and digital time-lapse imaging provides research scientists and process engineers with a valuable insight into the structure – property changes they must control in order to produce successful products.

Successes
Identification of crucial parameters driving the crystallisation of hot-melt adhesive systems.

Thermal characteristics of "contaminant" gels leading to identification of root causes and reduction of gel particles in polymer fibres.

Investigations into moulding defects caused by inhomogeneous polymer cross contamination and its influence on melt-out properties.

Determination of ice crystal growth rates in food products and the influence of this on texture.

Micro-analysis: determining individual particle melting point characteristics as a problem-solving tool.

Characterisation of freeze, cloud point and crystallisation processes in fluids and the effect of crystal habit modifiers on crystal formation.

Applications of thermal microscopy techniques

• Determination of purity.
• Analysis of mixtures.
• Investigations into polymorphic transformations
• Rates of crystal and crystal-front growth.
• Crystal morphology and crystal habit changes.
• Decomposition and degradation processes.
• Formation of physical defects such as bubbles, shrinkage cracks and inhomogeneity.

• Recrystallisation processes from solution or melt.
• Flocculation, or phase dispersion changes.
• Thermal history studies on degraded material.
• Gel formation and dissolution processes.