Thermal analysis is a branch of material science that studies how a material’s properties change with temperature. From safe medicines to durable airplanes, countless products are made possible through thermal analysis. Understanding a material’s behavior under different temperatures is crucial for the successful design, processing, end use, and recyclability of completed products.
The glass transition temperature (Tg) is a fundamental material property for defining material integrity, manufacturing conditions, and operating guidelines across applications such as polymers, electronics, and advanced materials.
Hydrogels are three-dimensional porous strctures that can absorb large amounts of water. They can be made up of polymers, protein, peptides, colloids, surfactants, or lipids.1 Hydrogels’ ability to uptake large amounts of water is useful for many biological applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering. Since a hydrogels’ properties change as it absorbs water, scientists must accurately characterize its behavior at different saturation amounts and in varying conditions.