Thermal analysis is essential for the characterization of polymers and drugs. However, the currently established methods require a large amount of sample. Here, we present pyrolytic carbon resonators as promising tools for micromechanical thermal analysis (MTA) of nanograms of polymers. Doubly clamped pre-stressed beams with a resonance frequency of 233 ± 4 kHz and a quality factor (Q factor) of 800 ± 200 were fabricated. Optimization of the electrical conductivity of the pyrolytic carbon allowed us to explore resistive heating for integrated temperature control. MTA was achieved by monitoring the resonance frequency and quality factor of the carbon resonators with and without a deposited sample as a function of temperature. To prove the potential of pyrolytic carbon resonators as thermal analysis tools, the glass transition temperature (T_g) of semicrystalline poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) and the melting temperature (T_m) of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) were determined. The results show that the T_g of PLLA and T_m of PCL are 61.0 ± 0.8 °C and 60.0 ± 1.0 °C, respectively, which are in excellent agreement with the values measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

热分析对于聚合物和药物的表征至关重要。然而，目前建立的方法需要大量样本。在这里，我们提出热解碳谐振器作为纳克聚合物微机械热分析（MTA）的有前途的工具。制造了谐振频率为 233 ± 4 kHz、品质因数（Q 因数）为 800 ± 200 的双夹紧预应力梁。热解碳电导率的优化使我们能够探索用于集成温度控制的电阻加热。MTA 是通过监测碳谐振器的谐振频率和品质因数（有或没有沉积样品）作为温度的函数来实现的。为了证明热解碳谐振器作为热分析工具的潜力，半晶聚（L-乳酸）（PLLA）的玻璃化转变温度（ T _g ）和聚（己内酯）（PCL）的熔化温度（ T _m ）决定。结果表明， PLLA 的T _g和PCL 的T _m分别为 61.0 ± 0.8 °C 和 60.0 ± 1.0 °C，与差示扫描量热法（DSC）测量的值非常吻合。