Nonisothermal Crystallization Kinetics by DSC: Practical Overview

Abstract

Providing a minimum of theory, this review focuses on practical aspects of analyzing the kinetics of nonisothermal crystallization as measured with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It is noted that kinetic analysis is dominated by approaches based on the Avrami and Arrhenius equations. Crystallization kinetics should not be considered synonymous with the Avrami model, whose nonisothermal applications are subject to very restrictive assumptions. The Arrhenius equation can serve only as a narrow temperature range approximation of the actual bell-shaped temperature dependence of the crystallization rate. Tests of the applicability of both equations are discussed. Most traditional kinetic methods tend to offer very unsophisticated treatments, limited only to either glass or melt crystallization. Differential or flexible integral isoconversional methods are applicable to both glass and melt crystallization because they can accurately approximate the temperature dependence of the crystallization rate with a series of the Arrhenius equations, each of which corresponds to its own narrow temperature interval. The resulting temperature dependence of the isoconversional activation energy can be parameterized in terms of the Turnbull–Fisher or Hoffman–Lauritzen theories, and the parameters obtained can be meaningfully interpreted and used for kinetic simulations.

Thermokinetic Study of Aluminum-Induced Crystallization of a-Si: The Effect of Al Layer Thickness

“…For small weighed portions of the material of about 10-15 mg and lower and heating rates lower than 20 • C/min, this dependence is close to the linear one [47]. This allows neglecting the distortions of the heat flow (those of the peak shape and location of the maximum) arising due to the contribution of the heat capacity and thermal inertia of the sample material, crucible and DSC-TG sensor.…”

Kinetics of Martensite/Austenite Decomposition during Tempering of Ultrafine Nano-Bainitic Steels

“…Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been the preferred technique for measuring kinetic data by numerous researchers because of its speed, dependability, and ease of use. One major benefit is that it requires a small sample size, which saves a lot of time [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. In this paper, the kinetic equations are also constructed from DSC data.…”

Investigating the Phase Transition Kinetics of 1-Octadecanol/Sorbitol Derivative/Expanded Graphite Composite Phase Change Material with Isoconversional and Multivariate Non-Linear Regression Methods

“…However, it also limited the crystal growth process of PEG. Most crystallization kinetics analyses are performed using means of single-step Avrami-Arrhenius treatment, but some of them, for complex phase transition processes, ignore the dependence of the activation energy on the conversion degree, making the results problematic [28]. Moreover, the crystallization kinetics analyses are relatively difficult for determining kinetic models for overlapping complex phase transition processes [29].…”