Book of Proceedings AICAT 2008

This volume collects the scientific papers presented at the XXX National Conference of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis, AICAT 2008, held in Pisa from the 9th to the 12th of December 2008. The conferences of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis are organized yearly by the Italian Association of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis (AICAT) and by the Interdivisional Group of Calorimetry and Thermal Analysis (GICAT) of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI). The AICAT Conference comes back to Pisa after exactly twenty years. Pisa indeed held the tenth edition and the AICAT 2008 organizing committee is particularly grateful to both AICAT and GICAT for choosing Pisa again as location for the thirtieth.Pisa is a city of deep cultural traditions, rich in study and knowledge, where an ancient and famous University, two other highly reputed academical institutions and prestigious research centres are located. Its atmosphere is that of a big open campus, permeated by the wide and varied culture derived from the exchange of knowledge and experience of scholars operating in the most diverse fields. We hope that this atmosphere can provide a propitious surrounding to the meeting and offer us a further occasion to share notions and experiences; in one word, to share culture.In organizing AICAT 2008 we chose to dedicate a special attention to those fields in which calorimetric methods are used in conjunction with other experimental techniques and that therefore represent an example of multidisciplinary approach to research. In particular, the program contains sessions devoted to the use of calorimetric methods for studies in the fields of solutions and mixtures, food, pharmaceuticals, proteins and other biological macromolecules, polymers and biomaterials, environmental safety and cultural heritage.