Sampling techniques, real-time path

The use of infrared spectroscopy in the Earth and environmental sciences has been widespread for decades however, until development of the attenuated total reflectance (ATR) technique, the primary use was ex situ material characterization (Chen and Gardella, 1998 Tejedor-Tejedor et al., 1998 Degenhardt and McQuillan, 1999 Peak et al., 1999 Wijnja and Schulthess, 1999 Aral and Sparks, 2001 Kirwan et al., 2003). For the study of environmental systems, the strength of the ATR-Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique lies in its intrinsic surface sensitivity. Spectra are collected only from absorptions of an evanescent wave with a maximum penetration depth of several micrometers from the internal reflection element into the solution phase (Harrick, 1967). This short optical path length allows one to overcome any absorption due to an aqueous phase associated with the sample while maintaining a high sensitivity to species at the mineral-water interface (McQuillan, 2001). Therefore, ATR—FTIR represents a technique capable of performing in situ spectroscopic studies in real time. 

---