For the purpose of developing a new method to measure the thermophysical properties such as heat capacity, thermal conductivity and emissivity of high-temperature metallic melts, the experimental principle of the noncontact laser AC calorimetry has been established. An electromagnetic levitator incorporating a static magnetic field was used for the AC calorimetry. The convection in the silicon droplet is effectively suppressed by the Lorentz force caused by the interaction between the silicon melt and static magnetic field, which makes it possible to measure the true thermal conductivity of the melt. The convection in the levitated liquid silicon becomes negligible above 2 T.

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Recent development of the analyzing method of DSC of heat flux type has been reviewed. In the DSC of heat flux type, sample temperature and heat flux are determined from the time-series data of experimentally available temperatures at the sample stage and furnace. For the determination, the instrumental coefficients such as thermal contact resistance between the sample pan and its stage are required. The following methods are discussed for determining the instrumental coefficients: the methods based on the analytical solutions of the melting of indium, on a standard material with known heat capacity, and on the response of complex heat capacity obtained by T-M DSC. Sample temperature and heat flow under non-steady condition can be evaluated by these methods. The methods also provide reasonable calibration of the dynamic heat capacity of T-M DSC.

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The thermodynamic properties of lead-based complex perovskite relaxors are reviewed. The heat capacity anomaly of typical lead-based complex perovskite relaxors Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ and Pb(Mg_1/3Ta_2/3)O₃ found in a very wide temperature range around room temperature is discussed in terms of the formation and growth of ferroelectric nanoregions in a paraelectric matrix. The ferroelectric phase transition behavior of Pb(Sc_1/2Ta_1/2)O₃ is also systematically studied with respect to changes in the degree of B-site cation ordering.

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Antimicrobial activities were investigated using a calorimeter capable of measuring the heat evolved when soil microbes multiplied in the soil. The peak of heat evolution due to microbial growth with metabolic degradation of glucose in the soil shifted toward a longer incubation as the concentration of antimicrobial agent in soil increased. Their values of MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) for the antimicrobial activities were determined using the non-competitive inhibition kinetic model proposed by Takahashi et al. Antifungal activities of TBZ (2-(4'-Thiazolyl)-benzimidazole) against Aspergillus niger were evaluated by this method.

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