Heat Capacity Measurement

The Micro Reaction Calorimeter has a specific mode of operation for rapid determination of Heat Capacity (Cp) data.  By applying a specific temperature step to the material you wish to measure the heat required to achieve this change can be made.

The system will apply both a step up and down generating characteristic peaks as shown below.

After correcting the data (a simple subtraction of the contribution of the empty vessels) the heat capacity is obtained by simply dividing the result by the temperature step and sample mass.  The real strength of this system for heat capacity determination is the ability of the µRC to measure data from a wide range of materials (solids, liquids, mixtures) with volumes of up to 1.5ml giving good representative samples (examples with immiscible solids are included).

The measurement of heat-capacity using this method produces good high quality data - the sample of water (shown above) gives a Cp value of 4.198 J.g^-1.°C^-1 (cf lit value of 4.182 J.g^-1.°C^-1 giving an error of 0.4%.  This high accuracy together with the low cost of the instrument (and minimal operating costs) makes this an ideal way to improve the data measured using other (larger) reaction calorimeters.

Further examples of heat capacity measurement using the µRC can be found in the technical application notes in the downloads section of this website.  Click the Further Information on the right to access this section.

Further Information
Further information on the mRC™ including technical papers and brochures can be accessed here

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Sample Testing
Samples can be examined using the mRC either for screening or more detailed analysis as part of our sample testing service.

Spares and Consumables
Spares, consumables and upgrades for the mRC™ can be found here.