ANU SPEC-E Lab
SPEctroscopy, Characterisation and Experimental Laboratory
Content navigation
About
Infrared spectroscopy
Infrared is commonly used to:
- Identify inorganic compounds, including minerals
- 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
Access to FTIR
New users should contact kathryn.hayward@anu.
Established users can make bookings using the calendar below:
<iframe src="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?height=600&wkst=1&bgcolor=%23ffffff&ctz=Australia%2FSydney&src=bTU1bWRzZGlyaDZybmgybjJubGtiNWVqajRAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&src=bHU4aDhjNWg5cWZnb3FmMHFuNnNsdmY3ZDRAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&src=bW52Y2Jwa3RjM3JhZ25saWppaW85cWY4OWdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&src=ODhoanNyZHFvdDg3ZWg0bWllc3F2dWJ2dGNAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&src=MjVhMDJtZnZoMTMyZW83cm9uYXFxcXNwdWdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&color=%23E67C73&color=%23009688&color=%234285F4&color=%23A79B8E&color=%23E67C73" style="border:solid 1px #777" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Location
Research School of Earth Sciences
Florey Building, Building 54
Mills Road
ACTON ACT 2601