Description
IR spectroscopy measures the light energy required to start molecular vibrations in a sample. Functional groups have characteristic vibrations at different bands in the IR spectrum, and these can be used as a means of identification of compounds present in a sample. FTIR spectroscopy measures all frequencies of light simultaneously, and uses a Fourier transformation on the measured data, resulting in a high quality spectrum in much shorter times than when using traditional scanning IR techniques.
Technical Details
The Cary 620 is a Focal Plane Array (FPA) chemical imaging FTIR microscope, coupled with a Cary 670 FTIR spectrometer. The system can collect a full chemical image (containing up to 16,384 spectra per scan with a 128×128 FPA) simultaneously across a Field of View of up to 2.4×2.4mm, or in high magnification mode, can measure with a 1.1 micron pixel size. The system is available with 4x, 15x and 25x objectives. No cooling system is available for samples, samples are kept at room temperature during analysis.
Applications
μ-FTIR microscopy can be used for a wide range of applications in food science, environmental science, material science etc., and is in regular use at AEW for the identification of microplastics in environmental samples.