This tutorial teaches you how to set up and use the TA reference library – a feature of METTLER TOLEDOs thermal analysis STARe software – which comes with an existing library containing more than 50 different polymers.
Features and Benefits:
- Many reference libraries – allow fast and easy access to material properties.
- Flexible search – quickly retrieve similar or identical known references.
- Unlimited content – store any number of STARe results, literature or values obtained from material data sheets.
Similar to an archive, you can incorporate as many reference libraries as you wish using the new software option—preferably one library for each material class.
Continuously build on an existing library by including new reference materials and/or data fields (i.e. recent measurements and/or data entries from the literature or material supplier data sheets etc.). The flexible software permits any type of information (in any file format) to be uploaded to the database. This allows you to instantly access knowledge on a specific material, be it the melting peak (numerical), color (text), picture or a related article, as long as the data/information has been previously added to the database.
Once set up, finding relevant information or reference measurements in your library is only a matter of a few seconds.
More TA software information can be found on our website where you may also download and test the free TA evaluation software
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How to set up and use the TA application reference library
With STARe Thermal Analysis Software version fifteen, the new software option Reference Library is available.
With this software option you can load or create your own libraries, which contain Thermal Analysis reference data and evaluations.
We will show you:
- How to load libraries.
- How to create your own reference library from measured curves.
How to use reference evaluations to easily find the best match to a measurement of an unknown sample measured on your Thermal Analysis Module.
First let's take a look at the evaluations that are available in our current STARe database. It contains various melting evaluations, a glass transition evaluation of E-SBR and an evaluation named "unknown sample".
The Reference Library User Interface can be accessed through a tab in the Evaluation Window.
In order to load a commercially available library you have to import it. We will now show you how to import a small library containing evaluated glass transition temperatures of polymers.
Click Import and choose a reference library file, which has the file type dot srl.
Click Open.
A dialog box opens, prompting you to choose an evaluation import option. Choose Import all evaluations.
Click Import.
The reference library dialog box opens containing the name of the reference library, which is "Polymer Glass Transition Library" and a table. Each reference library consists of such a table with at least two columns containing the name of the evaluation and the evaluated characteristic values. In this case, the glass transition temperatures are all in degrees Celsius.
Click Save. The Library also contains the original STARe Software evaluations. Each row in the table corresponds to a particular evaluation.
The imported STARe evaluations can be seen by clicking File: Open Evaluation. Six new evaluations with names starting with “Glass Transitions” have been added. Your own reference library can be created from measurements carried out on your STARe system.
Open an evaluation that you want to add to a new library. In the result block, mark the line containing the characteristic value you want to record. Click the library tab and then click New. Enter the name of your new reference library. Right click on the result block and choose Add Result as new Reference Library column. Adjust the Left and the Right Limit to the range you will later search within. Edit the column title accordingly. Click OK. Click OK. Click Add Open Evaluation. Click Save. You can add more evaluations to the Library by opening evaluations, open the Library with Edit and then add evaluations with Add Open Evaluation. Do not forget to Save. Finally, we can show you the real benefit of Reference Libraries. The possibility to find the best match for unknown samples by searching and displaying reference evaluations. Open the evaluation "unknown sample" and mark the line “Peak” in the right result block. Right-click and click on the bottom line Search in Reference Library… A window named Reference Library Quick Search opens. On the bottom line the search parameters are displayed. In the field “plus minus” you can enter the search range of the characteristic value. Choose one Reference Library from the field Reference Library Name and click OK. A list of all evaluations in the chosen library, which lie within the search range is displayed. Choose the evaluation of interest and right-click its name. Then click Open Evaluation…
The reference evaluation is displayed below the unknown sample evaluation with the abscissa aligned. Now it is easy to compare the unknown sample with the reference evaluation.
