Exploring phase behavior in azido-acetylene monomers by in-situ combination of ultra-fast chip calorimetry and microfocus X-ray scattering

This research will be carried out in the framework of a Soft-Matter Partnership agreement we recently signed with ESRF. In the previous LTP (SC3457), we designed and implemented our custom-built fast chip calorimeter at the ID13 beamline and showed the principal possibility of combining nano- and micro-focus X-ray scattering with quantitative thermal analysis on the nano-scale (nanograms of the sample and submicron spatial resolution). The focus here will be put on the structure and complex thermal behavior of six types of energetic azido-acetylene monomers that can be used to synthesize hyperbranched polymers. The proposed in-situ experiment should help to separate the different physical and chemical transformations of the samples, such as melting, polymerization, evaporation and decomposition and the effect of spontaneous heating observed in bulk samples.