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Novel approach for thermal diffusivity measurements in inert atmosphere using the flash method

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Abstract

Determining the thermal conductivity is crucial whenever heat transfer issues are considered which play a major role in many technological applications. However, various materials are sensitive to oxygen or moisture and, therefore, cannot be examined with commonly used equipment under ambient conditions. Here, we present a novel approach which combines the inert requirements of ambient-sensitive specimens with the flash method in which the apparatus, a Netzsch LFA 447 NanoFlash®, is placed under ambient conditions. A new measuring cell with flash-transparent windows was constructed which resembles a gas-tight specimen chamber. This device can be easily adapted to other apparatuses based on the flash method. The thermal conductivities of reference materials in inert and ambient conditions were examined in a temperature range from 25 to 275 °C. In general an excellent agreement was found. Further, the usability of this special sample cell is demonstrated for the investigation of the thermal conductivities of two complex hydride systems which are important for solid-state hydrogen storage applications.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been performed in the framework of the European Centre for Emerging Materials and Processes Dresden (ECEMP) which is funded by the European regional development fund and the Free State of Saxony. Furthermore, the authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the German-Chinese Sustainable Fuel Partnership project (contract no. 03BV108B) and the Fraunhofer Attract program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Materials Science, Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstr. 7, 01069, Dresden, Germany

    Carsten Pohlmann & Bernd Kieback

  2. Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials, Branch Lab Dresden, Winterbergstr. 28, 01277, Dresden, Germany

    Thomas Hutsch, Lars Röntzsch, Thomas Weißgärber & Bernd Kieback

Authors
  1. Carsten Pohlmann
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  2. Thomas Hutsch
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  3. Lars Röntzsch
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  4. Thomas Weißgärber
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  5. Bernd Kieback
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Correspondence to Thomas Hutsch.

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Pohlmann, C., Hutsch, T., Röntzsch, L. et al. Novel approach for thermal diffusivity measurements in inert atmosphere using the flash method. J Therm Anal Calorim 114, 629–634 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-013-3048-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-013-3048-9

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