General Inorganic Chemicals and Coordination Compounds

This chapter discusses the applications of thermal analysis (TA) in the study of inorganic chemicals and coordination compounds. Calorimetry is included as it complements results from TA measurements. The chapter describes mainly the solids. Some few examples of studies of fluids are known, while gases are beyond the field of thermal analysis. Binary compounds consist of two elements: A α B β . The advantages of the main thermodynamic properties measured with calorimetry or differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are: (1) short time of measurement, (2) continuous temperature change, and (3) small amount of substance needed. In the adiabatic method the sample is isolated from heat exchange with its environment, and the remaining heat exchange is made as reproducible as possible. Measured amounts of heat are then supplied to the sample and the resulting temperature changes are measured.