Quantify H2O, OH-, CO2, CO32- and SO42- in solids like minerals and glasses
Determine the spectral signatures of materials relevant to remote sensing
Quantify functional groups in pharmaceutical, agricultural, medical and manufactured materials
Identify historical art media and archaeological artifacts
Top reasons to use IR:
Useful for molecules with a dipole moment like polar groups, substituents on organic molecules, bonds in solids (e.g., Si-O, Al-O, B-O, H-O, C-O, C-H, N-O, S-O)
Samples can be crystalline, microcrystalline, amorphous or liquid
Very small samples can be analysed (<6μm lateral resolution)
Fast (1-10 minutes)
Qualitative ID is straightforward
Quantitative molecular abundances may be determined
FTIR spectrometer with microscope & mapping stage
Mid-IR: 400-5600 cm-1 (1.8-25 μm)
Reflectance, transmittance and attenuated total reflectance
Dry air purge
Microscope (15x and 36x objectives) with mapping stage that provides automated collection of spectra with ≥ 1μm step over 1cm2
Environmental chamber
Diffuse reflectance in a controlled-temperature reaction chamber
-150 to 500ºC
Vacuum or gas flow
Analysis of powders and reaction products (including surface species) in situ during experiments
Small-scale environmental chamber
Environmental stage for in situ transmission or reflectance IR micro-analyses
-196 to 900ºC with vacuum or gas flow
Field equipment
Portable or mounted FTIR
Reflectance, grazing angle and attenuated total reflectance analysis
Rapid analysis of powders, films and flat surfaces
Used in the field or lab
Geochemical and field equipment
Multi-meter with probes for measuring pH, ionic species, conductivity, dissolved O2, total dissolved solids, temperature and barometric pressure
Humidity-temperature data loggers
X-ray diffraction laboratory
Bragg-Brentano & transmission diffractometers
Powders or flat solid samples (>1μmg)
Phase identification and quantification including clay minerals
Crystal structure (Rietveld) refinement
Thermal analysis equipment
Thermogravimetric analyser <1200ºC
Differential thermal analyser <1200ºC
Differential scanning calorimeter <725ºC
Materials preparation facility
Horizontal tube furnaces (<1650ºC)
High-temperature box furance + ovens
Current projects include:
In situ analyses to characterise reactions as a function of temperature and gas atmosphere
Detecting rock art coatings appropriate for dating
Spatially mapping water diffusion in crystals and glasses
In situ temperature-dependent reaction rates
Investigating relationships between silicate glass structure, composition, thermal effects and spectra