“What are the purposes of modulated DSC and gas adsorption measurements?”

The “What Is It Used For…?” seminars, organized by the UAR PAC Chimie Balard and the Chemistry Cluster, aim to introduce participants to and deepen their understanding of the technical capabilities of the analytical and characterization equipment made available.

The seminar onJune 16willfocus on two advanced techniques for characterizing materials: modulated DSC thermal analysis and gas adsorption measurements for textural analysis. Structured in two parts, this event will showcase two pieces of equipment recently acquired by the platform, as well as their applications in academic and industrial research.

Part 1 — Thermal Analysis: Modulated DSC

Come discover the latest addition to the UAR Balard Thermal Analysis platform: a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)capable of operating in modulated mode. This technique pushes the boundaries of conventional thermal analysis by separating, within a single experiment, “kinetic” phenomena (crystallization, polymerization, cross-linking, degradation) from so-called “reversible” phenomena (melting, glass transition, etc.).

Following an introduction to the operating principle of modulated DSC—which is based on superimposing a sinusoidal signal onto a linear temperature ramp—several practical examples will illustrate the advantages of this approach: improved resolution of transitions, identification of overlapping phenomena, and more accurate quantification of enthalpies. The presentation will also address precautions related to the selection of experimental parameters and the interpretation of signals, as well as several industrial applications such as formulation optimization and quality control.

Part Two — Textural Analysis: Gas Adsorption Measurements

The second part of the seminar will focus on the presentation of a newMicromeritics 3Flexgas sorption device coupled with a helium-compression cryostat, which eliminates the need for cryogenic liquids.

This advanced experimental system is designed to study the adsorption and desorption of various types of gases over a wide temperature range in order to determine the textural properties of materials, such as specific surface area, pore size distribution, and gas–surface interactions.

This presentation will highlight the operating principles of the instrument, the various analyses it can perform, and its applications in the fields of porous materials, catalysis, gas storage, and functional materials.

Speakers from the Thermal Analysis Department:

• Amine GENESTE: Design Engineer – Technical Manager
• Simon CUNY: Design Engineer
• Jean-Pierre HABAS: Professor – Scientific Director

Staff members of the Textural Analysis Department: 

• Martin Drobek (IEM)
• Nicolas Donzel and Simon Cuny (PAC/ICGM Technical Department)

About the speakers:

Amine GENESTEhas been a research engineer at the CNRS within the Thermal Analysis Unit at PAC Balard since 2016, which became the Research Support Unit Research 2025. Amine is responsible for designing and conducting experiments on various instruments, all of which are used to study materials and substances with temperature as a stimulus (conventional or modulated DSC, thermogravimetric analyzer, dielectric spectrometer, etc.).

Simon CUNYis a materials engineer (Polytech-Montpellier). Since September 2025, he has been working as a specialist technician in two departments at UAR Balard. He is proficient in conventional DSC in the Thermal Analysis Department, providing invaluable assistance in conducting experiments on behalf of academic and industrial partners. He is also responsible for chemical analyses using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy instruments.

Jean-Pierre HABASis a professor in Department D2, Chemistry of Macromolecular Materials, at the ICGM, which he joined in 2009. He is the scientific director of the Thermal Analysis Unit and applies his expertise to the interpretation of thermograms, which often exhibit complex behavior. His physicochemical knowledge of organic and inorganic substances—and especially polymer and composite materials—enables him to address a wide range of issues based on reliable structure-property relationships.

Martin Drobekis a research scientist at the CNRS at the European Institute of Membranes; he specializes in the synthesis and applications of materials intended for the development of membranes for the separation and detection of liquids, gases, and vapors.

Nicolas Donzelisa research engineer at the CNRS, and Simon Cuny is with the PAC at the University of Montpellier; they are in charge of various instruments used for the textural characterization of porous and/or particulate materials, particularly for measuring specific surface area and pore size distribution.

This seminar, offered in a short and informal format, is open to everyone.

Target audience:researchers, Professors, doctoral students*, and postdoctoral researchers, engineers, and laboratory technicians.

*Credit recognition available for EDSCB doctoral students!

Registration is freebut required.

Access to the CNRS campus with a QR code (to request a code or for any other inquiries, please contact: ).