Theoretical and Experimental Considerations on the Enthalpic Relaxation of Organic Glasses Using Differential Scanning Calorimetry

The enthalpy relaxation of amorphous salicin, used as model organic glass of pharmaceutical relevance, was investigated using a combination of DSC measurements and theoretical simulations. The combined approach makes it possible to discern between the effect of the glass forming properties of the material and the effects of the thermal history and experimental conditions. The approach also facilitates an unambiguous definition of the time scale of the experiment, such that objective comparison among relaxation time and glass transition temperature values can be made. The simulation provides accurate predictions of the DSC profiles obtained under a wide variety of experimental conditions. The effects of annealing time and the heating/cooling rate on the enthalpy recovery were explained by tracking the evolution of relaxation times as a function of temperature and time. The combined experimental and simulation approach also makes it possible to systematically explore the effect of specific glass forming properties, such as fragility and nonexponentiality, on the relaxation and associated thermal behavior of molecular organic glasses of pharmaceutical interest. To fully characterize these materials, it is necessary to go beyond the onset T(g) and include the early stages of the glass transition.