Thermal conductivity from dynamic response of DSC

We proposed a method to measure the absolute value of thermal conductivity κ of low thermal conducting solid materials (with κ in the range 0.1–2 W m−1 K−1). The accuracy of thermal conductivity determination is typically better than 10%. Thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the sample are determined simultaneously in a single measurement with the prerequisite that these values are frequency independent. Technically this method is realized on power-compensated differential scanning calorimeters (DSCs) without any modification in the measuring system. DSC is calibrated in a standard way for temperature and heat flow. No special calibration for thermal conductivity is necessary. The method uses temperature–time profiles consisting of one fast temperature jump of 0.5–2 K and an isotherm. The measuring time for each temperature is less than 1 min. As input parameters only sample thickness and contact area with the DSC furnace (or sample diameter if the sample is disk shaped) are needed together with sample mass. In addition to the sample thermal conductivity and heat capacity, the effective thermal contact between sample and DSC furnace is determined. Data evaluation is performed automatically by a program available for download.