A method for heat capacity measurement by photoacoustics

► A photoacoustic method for heat capacity measurements in solids is proposed. ► The method is free of instrumental function influence. ► The method is tested by measurements in samples of known thermal properties. ► The number of fit parameters is reduced respecting previous works. ► The heat transmission configuration is advantageous respecting the frontal ones. In this paper a photoacoustic method is proposed for specific heat capacity measurements in solids using a heat transmission configuration, where illumination takes place at the reference–sample interface. The method involves the use of a liquid reference sample so that it becomes free of instrumental function influence due to effects dependent on the detection cell, the frequency dependence of the microphone response and of the involved electronics. The method is validated with measurements performed in test samples of different materials.