In my thesis, I used differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to compare the thermal properties of sulfapyridine under different measurement conditions and with two measurement methods: power compensation and heat flow. The main focus was on comparing two instruments: the older Mettler Toledo DSC1, which operates according to the heat flow (HF) principle, and the newer Mettler Toledo DSC5+, which, in addition to heat flow (HF), also allows measurement with power compensation (PC).
The results from the first heating curve of the sulfapyridine sample in polymorphic form I showed that all instruments were accurately calibrated, as the onset of melting (T$_{Onset}$) occurred within a difference of 0.79 °C, between 190.12 °C and 190.91 °C. This demonstrates that the heating rate has practically no effect on the onset of melting of the sample. However, the measurement mode did affect the final melting temperature (T$_{Endset}$) and thus the width of the melting interval, which was widest for the DSC5+ in HF mode: 3.70 °C at a heating rate of 5 °C/min and 5.67 °C at 10 °C/min. At 5 °C/min, the melting interval for the DSC1 and DSC5+ PC was practically the same (2.64 °C), but at higher rates it was slightly wider (3.98 °C) compared to 3.72 °C for DSC5+ PC, which proved to be the most sensitive measurement mode for detecting thermal effects.
During heating after slow and rapid (100 °C/min) cooling, glass transition, cold crystallisation, and polymorphic changes were clearly observed. We identified three known polymorphic forms. In the DSC1, polymorphism was most pronounced, and the polymorphs were most distinct, while in the DSC5+ PC, at a higher heating rate, the second polymorph was more pronounced and more intense than in the HF measurement mode. After rapid cooling, the heating curves showed fewer polymorphic modifications than after slow cooling. The total melting enthalpies of the polymorphs were lower than during heating after slow cooling.
A comparison between the instruments showed that the DSC1 remains an extremely highquality instrument and is perfectly suitable for routine analyses and research work at normal heating and cooling rates. However, in PC measurement mode, the DSC5+ proved more capable of detecting thermal transitions with low intensity, particularly crystallisation and glass transition, making it a more suitable choice for in-depth characterisation of complex thermal behaviours
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