Specific heat analysis

What is specific heat?

Specific heat, also called mass heat capacity, is a fundamental thermal property of a material. It corresponds to the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of that material by one degree Celsius. Expressed in J/g·K, it reflects a material's ability to store or transmit heat and is a key parameter in applied thermodynamics.

Specific heat measurement is essential in many industrial fields: formulation of insulating materials, thermal design of products, stability studies, or thermal simulation of industrial processes.

Why analyze specific heat?

Specific heat analysis allows us to:

• Designing materials with controlled thermal performance (insulation, engineering plastics, composites)
• Optimize thermal transformation parameters (heating, drying, cooking, etc.)
• Controlling the thermal stability of a product or formulation
• Evaluate the thermal inertia of materials in a given system
• Compare different batches or formulations in terms of calorific value

This parameter is often used in conjunction with other thermal properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, or transition enthalpy.

Analytical methods: DSC and calorimetry

Specific heat measurement is generally performed using two main techniques:

• DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry): Differential scanning calorimetry allows for the measurement of heat capacity as a function of temperature. It is fast, accurate, and suitable for small sample quantities.
• Classical calorimetry: the reference method for bulk materials, using an insulated chamber to measure the amount of heat absorbed or released during a controlled energy input.

These analyses are conducted under controlled atmosphere (air, nitrogen, helium) according to recognized standards, such as ISO 11357, ASTM E1269 or DIN 51007, in order to ensure the reproducibility and comparability of the results.

Affected matrices

Specific heat analysis applies to a wide variety of materials, whether solid, liquid, or pasty:

• Thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers
• Composites and insulating foams
• Technical metals, alloys, ceramics
• Food products (butter, flour, purees, etc.)
• Cosmetics, emulsions, gels
• Industrial and pharmaceutical powders

Industrial applications

Knowledge of specific heat is essential in the following sectors:

• Food processing industry: optimization of cooking, freezing or pasteurization cycles
• Materials and construction: characterization of thermal envelope materials, thermal simulation
• Plastics processing: adjusting molding, extrusion or injection parameters
• Energy and thermal storage: study of phase-change materials or regulation systems
• Pharmaceuticals: tablet formulation and thermal stability of active ingredients

YesWeLab: a network of expert laboratories in thermal analysis

At YesWeLab , we provide you with a network of partner laboratories specializing in thermal characterization, rigorously selected for their expertise and accreditations (ISO 17025, COFRAC, etc.). Depending on your needs, we select the methods best suited to your matrices and your technical or regulatory constraints.

Our teams support you throughout the process, from defining the protocol to interpreting the results, with the possibility of providing complete technical reports for your R&D, quality or regulatory files.

Thanks to our digital platform, you can centralize your analysis requests, track your samples in real time, and easily view your results, wherever you are.

Need to measure the specific heat of your products?

YesWeLab assists you in analyzing the specific heat of your materials, ingredients, or formulations.
Contact our team for a personalized quote or to submit your thermal characterization needs.