In principle we can expect the dependence of heat capacity on time or frequency in every materials. However, owing to the limitation of the experimental technique only a few phenomena,
e. g., the logarithmic decay in amorphous, the frequency dispersion near glass transition,
etc., have been reported. Recently a new method, which can measure a thermodynamical quantity related to heat capacity, has been developed by applying ac calorimetry. In this review article, we introduce the method and its application to glass transition; Using the method thermal effusivity given by the product of
cκ (
c is heat capacity and κ is thermal conductivity) is obtainable; The measurement of frequency dependence of
cκ has been performed at the glass transition of glycerol and others in the frequency range over the low to high frequency limit; The detailed analysis of the results has been carried out and the mechanism of the glass transition has been discussed. Furthermore, it is pointed out that combining
cκ with the thermal diffusivity measured by the extension to the above method we can determine the heat capacity, the thermal conductivity and the thermal diffusivity at the same time. The recent development of ac calorimetry will be applied to the study of heat capacity spectroscopy in variety of phenomena including protein denaturation process.
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