Thermal Analysis in Inorganic Solid State Chemistry

Abstract

The conception presented in this paper aims at consistent investigations into problems which may be summarized under the term "Reactivity of Solids". In work of this kind, a careful consideration of relations between structure and morphology on the one hand and chemical reactivity (resp. behaviour in solid-solid phase transitions) on the other hand is indispensable. Structural and morphological results are mainly collected by X-rays and chemical electron microscopy, whereas thermoanalytical techniques are used to induce resp. follow reactions and phase transitions. Topochemical aspects and topotaxy are of central importance in our concept. By a typical example is proved that it is often not possible to set up a realistic reaction mechanism from thermoanalytical curves only. Results on thermal decomposition of small single crystals of model compounds selected from coordination chemistry show how important a careful control of the experimental conditions is. Furthermore, in situ thermogravimetry as an aid for preparative solid state chemical research in low pressure plasmas is described, and recent results on Jahn-Teller phase transitions are presented.