A typical DSC scan involves heating the sample at a controlled steady rate, such as 10°C per minute, and monitoring the heat flow to characterize the phase transitions and/or cure reactions as a function of increasing temperature. More involved studies utilize multiple heating and/or cooling ramps, as well as isothermal hold segments. EAG Laboratories also offers a temperature modulation technique (Modulated DSC), which is capable of measuring weak transitions and separating overlapping thermal events.
EAG Laboratories also features some DSC instruments that measure absolute heat flow because correction factors for cell resistance and capacitance have been applied. These instruments can output a heat capacity signal directly in a single experiment by dividing the absolute heat flow by the measured heating rate. Monitoring the heat-capacity signal as a function of the applied experimental conditions (such as a heating ramp) can determine how the heat capacity of the sample changes as it undergoes a phase change or a chemical reaction. Direct heat capacity measurements can also be obtained at isothermal temperatures with a high level of accuracy.