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17: Applications of Infrared Spectrometry

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    333370
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    Infrared spectroscopy finds wide use for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Our organization of IR applications follows that traditionally used by others by dividing the broad range of infrared radiation into three distinct units: the near-IR (4000 cm–1 to 14,000 cm–1, or 2,500 nm to 700 nm), the mid-IR (670 cm–1 to 4000 cm–1, or 15 µm to 2.5 µm), and the far-IR (670 cm–1 to 10 cm–1, or 1000 µm to 15 µm). Note that the near in near-IR means that it is nearest to the visible range of light. Of these, the most important in terms of the breadth of applications is the mid-IR.

    • 17.1: Mid-Infrared Absorption Spectometry
      Mid-infrared spectrometry is used for the routine qualitative analysis and, to a lesser extent, the quantitative analysis of organic molecules. In this section we consider absorption spectrometry in which we measure the absorbance of IR light as it passes through a gas, solution, liquid, or solid sample.
    • 17.2: Mid-Infrared Reflection Spectrometry
      The first section of this chapter considered mid-IR absorption spectrometry in which we measure the amount of light that is transmitted by the sample, which we can convert, if we wish, into absorbance values. In the process, we examined both transmittance and absorbance spectra. In this section, we consider experiments in which we measure the reflection of infrared radiation by a sample.
    • 17.3: Near-Infrared and Far-Infrared Spectroscopy
      At the beginning of this chapter we divided infrared radiation into three areas: the near-IR, the mid-IR, and the far-IR. The mid-IR, which runs from 4000 cm–1 to 670 cm–1 (2.5 µm to 15 µm) is the most analytical useful region and was the subject of the previous two sections. Here we briefly turn our attention to applications using the near-IR and the far-IR.


    This page titled 17: Applications of Infrared Spectrometry is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Harvey.

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