Abstract Applications of dynamic dielectric analysis (DDA) in studies on the thermal decomposition and phase transformations of solid materials are discussed. Three illustrative examples are presented for (a) a system undergoing a chemical reaction or thermal alteration on application of heat, (b) a system undergoing a crystallographic transformation and (c) detection of moisture in naturally occurring materials. The advantages derived by applying a combination of DDA and a conventional thermal analysis technique such as DTA to studies on thermal processes are demonstrated. It is shown that the information obtained from techniques such as DTA or TG is limited in scope unless used in conjunction with a method which sheds light on the mechanistic aspects of the physical or chemical process of interest.
