What is Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)?
A Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) is a type of thermal analysis that examines the thermal stability of a material. This is accomplished by recording the mass of a material with respect to temperature or time. TGA is most often used to characterize how a material decomposes, or simply how much mass a material loses as temperature increases.
What are the types of Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)?
A variety of TGA analyses can be performed including:
Dynamic TGA: The most common form of TGA where a material is heated as temperature increases at a predetermined rate of time while mass is constantly recorded. This can be used to determine not only how much mass is lost, but at what temperature the loss of mass occurs.
Static TGA: A form of TGA where the mass of a sample is constantly recorded at a fixed temperature as a function of time.
Quasistatic TGA: A form of TGA where the sample is heated using a variety of increasing temperatures until the material achieves a constant mass.
What information can a Thermogravimetric Analysis Provide?
TGA can be used for a variety of quantitative applications such filler percentage determination, ash percentage determination, contamination percentage determination, solvent loss on drying, water loss on drying, thermal decomposition, decarboxylation, and even specific studies such as metallic catalytic residue remaining on carbon nanotubes.
What Materials can be analyzed using Thermogravimetric Analysis?
Many materials are well suited for TGA. These include a variety of organic materials, pharmaceuticals, polymers, reinforced polymers and gaskets, fluoropolymers, thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers, composites, ceramics, metals, even foreign or unknown materials.