Abstract The past two decades have witnessed the rapid development of nanocalorimetry, a novel materials characterization technique that employs micromachined calorimetric sensors. The key advances of this technique are the ultrahigh scanning rate, which can be as high as 106 K/s, and the ultrahigh heat capacity sensitivity, with a resolution typically better than 1 nJ/K. Nanocalorimetry has attracted extensive attention in the field of materials science, where it is applied to perform quantitative analysis of rapid phase transitions. This paper reviews the development of nanocalorimetry over the last three decades and summarizes its applications to various materials ranging from polymers to metals. The glass transition and crystallization of non-crystalline materials, melting and solidification of metallic droplets, and solid-state phase transitions of thin films are introduced as typical examples. Furthermore, nanocalorimetry coupled with structural characterization techniques, such as transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction, is presented. Finally, current challenges and future outlooks for the technique are discussed. Given the unique attributes of the technique, we expect nanocalorimetry to attract increasing attention, especially with regard to characterization of fast phase transitions and evaluation of size effects.

中文翻译：

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纳米量热法：为极端非平衡条件下的原位材料表征打开了大门

摘要 过去二十年见证了纳米量热法的快速发展，纳米量热法是一种采用微机械量热传感器的新型材料表征技术。该技术的主要进步是超高扫描速率，可高达 106 K/s，以及超高热容灵敏度，分辨率通常优于 1 nJ/K。纳米量热法在材料科学领域引起了广泛关注，它被应用于对快速相变进行定量分析。本文回顾了纳米量热法在过去三年中的发展，并总结了其在从聚合物到金属的各种材料中的应用。非晶材料的玻璃化转变和结晶，金属液滴的熔化和凝固，并以薄膜的固态相变为例进行介绍。此外，还介绍了纳米量热法与结构表征技术，如透射电子显微镜和同步加速器 X 射线衍射。最后，讨论了该技术的当前挑战和未来前景。鉴于该技术的独特属性，我们预计纳米量热法会引起越来越多的关注，尤其是在快速相变的表征和尺寸效应的评估方面。