Mercury reflectance spectra

The contrasting temperature-induced shifts of the pyroxene 1 and 2 pm bands could lead to erroneous estimates of the composition and, to a lesser extent, structure-type of a pyroxene-bearing mineral assemblage deduced from the remote-sensed reflectance spectrum of a hot or cold planetary surface if room-temperature determinative curves, such as that shown in fig. 10.5, are used uncritically. For example, remote-sensed spectra of planets with hot surfaces, such as Mercury and the Moon, would lead to overestimates of Fe2+ contents of the orthopyroxenes and underestimated Fe2+ contents of the clinopyroxenes (Singer and Roush, 1985). Planets with cold surfaces, such as Mars and the asteroids, could produce opposite results. On the other hand, the room-temperature data underlying the pyroxene determinative curve shown in fig. 10.5 may impose constraints on the compositions of pyroxenes deduced from telescopic spectra of a planet with very high surface temperatures, such as Mercury. 

Kortum (2) measured the reflectance spectrum of mercury(II) iodide at 140° but did not describe the heated sample block or other experimental details. Another heated block assembly was described by Hatfield et al. 

Spread a thin layer of the dried preparation on a Petri dish and expose to a low pressure mercury lamp until a noticeable colour change is seen. Mix the irradiated powder, after grinding well, with KBr and run the reflectance spectrum over the range 400-750 nm, using KBr as a blank. Carry out identical procedure with the original preparation and compare the two spectra. 

FTIR Microspectroscopy.3 A microscope accessory coupled to a liquid-nitrogen-cooled mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) detector can be used to obtain an IR spectrum. This is possible in both the transmission and reflectance modes. Several beads are spread on an IR-transparent window (NaCl, KBr, diamond) and possibly flattened via a hand-press or a compression cell. The IR beam is focused on a single bead using the view mode of the microscope. The blank area surrounding the bead is isolated using an adjustable aperture, and a spectrum is recorded using 32 scans (<1 min). A nearby blank area of the same size on the IR transparent window is recorded as the background. 

The properties of the dual-film electrode were characterized by in situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) reflection absorption spectroscopy [3]. The FTIR spectrometer used was a Shimadzu FTIR-8100M equipped with a wide-band mercury cadmium teluride (MCT) detector cooled with liquid nitrogen. In situ FTIR measurements were carried out in a spectroelectro-chemical cell in which the dual-film electrode was pushed against an IR transparent silicon window to form a thin layer of solution. A total of 100 interferometric scans was accumulated with the electrode polarized at a given potential. The potential was then shifted to the cathodic side, and a new spectrum with the same number of scans was assembled. The reference electrode used in this experiment was an Ag I AgCl I saturated KCl electrode. The IR spectra are represented as AR/R in the normalized form, where AR=R-R(E ), and R and R(E ) are the reflected intensity measured at a desired potential and a base potential, respectively. 

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