An improved hermetic sample enclosure for simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry/synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction

A hermetic sample enclosure for performing simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry/synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction, previously developed in our laboratory, suffered from poor calorimetric performance. A new enclosure design has been developed that addresses this problem. Like the previous design, it is based on a Perkin-Elmer DSC-2C measuring head. While the original enclosure necessitated a sample pan rather inconsistent with the requirements of DSC, more sophisticated modifications to the new measuring head made it compatible with a new sample pan that does not compromise calorimetric performance. The original alternative temperature measurement and control system was upgraded with low-noise components. In addition, water-cooling was added to the measuring head. A prototype sample enclosure has been fabricated and successfully tested in multiple experiments.