The information gathered can even be enhanced by coupling the simultaneous thermal analysis instrument to an Evolved Gas Analyzer like Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy or mass spectrometry.
Other, less common, methods measure the sound or light emission from a sample, or the electrical discharge from a dielectric material, or the mechanical relaxation in a stressed specimen.
More advanced temperature profiles have been developed which use an oscillating (usually sine or square wave) heating rate (Modulated Temperature Thermal Analysis) or modify the heating rate in response to changes in the system's properties (Sample Controlled Thermal Analysis).
Inverse gas chromatography is a technique which studies the interaction of gases and vapours with a surface - measurements are often made at different temperatures so that these experiments can be considered to come under the auspices of Thermal Analysis.
Atomic force microscopy uses a fine stylus to map the topography and mechanical properties of surfaces to high spatial resolution.
Thermoplastic polymers are commonly found in everyday packaging and household items, but for the analysis of the raw materials, effects of the many additive used (including stabilisers and colours) and fine-tuning of the moulding or extrusion processing used can be achieved by using differential scanning calorimetry.
Aerospace companies often employ these analysers in routine quality control to ensure that products being manufactured meet the required strength specifications.
In addition, integration of the area between the zero curve and the first derivative is a measure of the specific heat of that part of the solidification which can lead to rough estimates of the percent volume of a phase.
Most foods are subjected to variations in their temperature during production, transport, storage, preparation and consumption, e.g., pasteurization, sterilization, evaporation, cooking, freezing, chilling, etc.
Chemical reactions such as hydrolysis, oxidation or reduction may be promoted, or physical changes, such as evaporation, melting, crystallization, aggregation or gelation may occur.
In principle, most analytical techniques can be used, or easily adapted, to monitor the temperature-dependent properties of foods, e.g., spectroscopic (nuclear magnetic resonance, UV-visible, infrared spectroscopy, fluorescence), scattering (light, X-rays, neutrons), physical (mass, density, rheology, heat capacity) etc.