5. Thermal Analysis of Frozen Polymer Gels and Observation of Their Frozen State by Scanning Electron Microscopy(Papers presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting)

Abstract

Thermal analysis of freezing behaviour of polymer gels was carried out by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) together with the observation of their frozen state by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As a result, it was indicated by DSC that small ice crystals, whose melting temperature is lowered because of the size effect, are formed trapped by the polymer network, and that vitrification is an extreme case of the formation of small ice crystals. However, no such small ice crystals were observed by the SEM observation.