title: High resolution calorimeter for the investigation of melting in organic and biological materials.
abstract: A high-resolution, high-sensitivity ac calorimeter has been developed to investigate the ''melting'' of organic and biological materials. The heart of this system is a simple yet very versatile sample cell which can be reused. High-temperature-resolution studies of the melting of n-octadecane and tert-butyl alcohol indicate interesting premelting and prefreezing phenomena in the specific heat capacity in these substances. With pure dipalmitoyl L-alpha-lecithin (DPL), in water, we obtain a very sharp (FWHM=0.38 degrees C) first-order phase transition showing no pretransition broadening or post-transition tails in the specific heat curves near the 41.2 degrees C transition point.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: O S
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Tanasijczuk
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oja
mesh_terms: D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine / Q000737:chemistry; D001695:Biology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002151:Calorimetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D002625:Chemistry, Organic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals; D014867:Water; D015060:1,2-Dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine