Thermochimica Acta, Vol.272, 95-103, 1996
Reutilizing and Retesting of Parallel-Plate Sensors in Dielectric Thermal-Analysis
One of the advantages of dielectric thermal analysis (DETA) is that the parallel plate sensors are disposable, thereby eliminating potentially time-consuming clean-up procedures. Nonetheless, sometimes the reusing of parallel plate sensors is desirable, for example, when the test material is limited, further processing is intended, or cyclic testing is required. In this experiment, multiple-run and single-run methodologies were performed, the former without unloading the ram, and the latter after unloading the ram, removing the specimen, and cleaning the sensor. A dummy biomedical membrane was cast from a tetrahydrofuran solution of highly plasticized poly(vinyl chloride). After running each DETA experiment at a heating rate of 3 degrees C min(-1) from -20 to +80 degrees C at 1, 10, and 100 Hz, no significant differences were observed for permittivities, loss factors, tan deltas, ion conductivities, or the membrane thicknesses at room temperature. When calibrated, sensor areas varied by +/-1%, and thermistor values varied by +/-0.5%. From comparative graphs, box-plots, and statistical analyses, the data confirm that parallel plate sensors can be reutilized for retesting with these biomedical membranes.
Keywords:ELECTRODES