A Differential Scanning Calorimeter Study of Phase Transitions in Alkali Metal Stearates

Differential scanning calorimeter thermograms have been obtained for the alkali metal stearates from 25 to 200 °C. Four different samples of different thermal history were studied for each soap, and differences in temperature and relative enthalpy of transitions were found to depend on the various sample histories. For lithium stearate good correlation is found between DSC and nuclear magnetic resonance (n.m.r.) results. Rubidium and caesium stearates seem to be less sensitive to thermal history than the sodium and potassium salts.