With this award from the Chemistry Major Research Instrumentation Program, Professor Isaac VonRue from King's College and colleagues Julie Belanger, Karen Vavrek, Ronald Supkowski and Trent Snider will acquire a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The proposal is aimed at enhancing research and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) polymer science for polymer characterization to investigate thermoreversible gelation and measure glass transition and melting temperatures of new polymers; (b) biochemistry for characterization of new lipids and liposomes; and (c) silica characterization for catalyst science to study water molecules that are chemically and physically attached to the surface.
The DSC instrument allows the measurement of the difference in the amount of heat required to increase the temperature of a sample and reference as a function of temperature. This technique provides information on the chemical composition of various materials. The basic principle for this technique is that when a sample undergoes a physical transformation such as melting or freezing more or less heat will need to flow to it than the reference to maintain both at the same temperature. Whether less or more heat must flow to the sample depends on whether the process releases or needs heat (exothermic or endothermic processes, respectively). The instrument measures the heat flux versus temperature or versus time. This information can be used to calculate enthalpies of the processes. The instrumentation will be used not only in research but also in research training and teaching of undergraduate students.
