A novel method to determine the glass transition temperature of polymers
Nadya Amalia1, Elfi Yuliza2, Desyana O. Margaretta3, Fisca D. Utami4, Neni Surtiyeni4, Sparisoma Viridi4, and Mikrajuddin Abdullah4

1Indonesian Institute of Sciences
2University of Bengkulu
3Sayyid Ali Rahmatullah State Islamic University Tulungagung
4Bandung Institute of Technology

Abstract

We propose a novel method for estimating the glass transition temperature of polymers. By placing the cantilever structure of a polymer in a temperature controlled environment, we were able to derive the temperature dependence of elastic moduli using an alternative non-destructive and non-contact method from our previous report [AIP Advances, 8(11), 115201]. We identified a drastic drop of the elastic modulus at a certain temperature and assumed this temperature corresponds to the glass transition temperature. We further introduced an equation to describe the elastic moduli around that critical temperature and were able to estimate the glass transition temperature for all polymeric materials tested. Surprisingly, the estimated glass transition temperatures conform to data obtained by direct measurement using the DTA device. Since the elastic modulus changes abruptly around the glass transition temperature, the proposed method might be more accurate than measurements using a DTA device where the glass transition temperature corresponds to the location of a weak peak on the DTA curve. This is the first attempt for estimating the glass transition temperature of polymers based on the bending of the cantilever structure, and appears to be the simplest method. The method is very potential for developing new equipment for determining the glass transition temperature of polymeric materials.

Keywords: glass transition, elastic modulus, polymers, differential thermal analysis, cantilever structure

Topic: Materials Physics