Contact us
Division of Polymer Science
Department of Chemistry
and Polymer Science
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X1
7602 MATIELAND
South Africa
Telephone: +27 (21) 808 3172
Student enquiries
+27(21) 808 3172
Where to find us
GPS Coordinates:
S 33° 55' 58" E 18° 51' 59"
Equipment available at Polymer Science
Last revision: 20 April, 2022
Thermal analysis
DSC TREF
Differential scanning calorimeter
Netzsch DSC 214 Polyma
Room: 1009
Responsible person: Dr Helen Pfukwa
The instrument is used for standard DSC analysis. The following thermal characteristics can be measured: melting temperature and enthalpies, crystallisation temperatures and enthalpies, oxidative induction time (OIT) and oxidative onset temperature (OOT), glass transition temperatures, degree of crystallinity and thermally induced crosslinking reactions. The measurement of isothermal crystallization or isothermal temperature-induced curing for kinetic measurements is also possible.
The DSC instrument is equipped with an IC70 cooling unit and can accommodate temperatures of -70°C to 600°C.
Temperature rising elution fractionation
Room: 1007
Responsible person: Dr Megan Matthews
The instrument, which was constructed in-house, allows for the fractionation of semi-crystalline polymers by means of crystallizability. The process involves slow cooling of a suitable polymer/solvent combination at around1°C/hour from 130°C to ambient temperature, and the subsequent elution of the fractionated material by stepwise temperature increase.
