De-smearing &
Deconvoluting DSC Data

Adjusting or modifying your data after it’s been collected is never a good idea, particularly when the adjustment is purely subjective and/or aesthetic.  Some vendors recommend a deconvolution or “desemearing” of DSC peaks to improve the apparent resolution of the measurement. This desmearing is done in the data analysis program after the true data has been collected, and involves applying a mathematical treatment to make peaks appear sharper and more resolved.

The problem with this approach lies in the ability to over-adjust the result.  The figure below contains three peaks:  raw data, effectively desmeared data, and overly desmeared data.  The desmearing approach can easily introduce artifacts into the data, such as the apparent exothermic peak at the end of the melt.

The TA Instruments Tzero DSC utilizes a first-principles approach to measuring heat flow.  This includes a four term heat flow equation which provides for the highest resolution of any DSC on the market, without the need for risky data manipulation. Tweaking your data after the fact is just Bad Science!