Ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy spectrometers

Many analytical laboratories are equipped with an infrared spectrometer, be it an older-style dispersive machine or a more modern Fourier-transform instrument. The results obtained from this particular technique are typically used in conjunction with the information gained from a variety of other analytical methods, such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, or chromatography, in order to obtain information abbut a wide range of samples. 

The basic methods of the identification and study of matrix-isolated intermediates are infrared (IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis), Raman and electron spin resonance (esr) spectroscopy. The most widely used is IR spectroscopy, which has some significant advantages. One of them is its high information content, and the other lies in the absence of overlapping bands in matrix IR spectra because the peaks are very narrow (about 1 cm ), due to the low temperature and the absence of rotation and interaction between molecules in the matrix. This fact allows the identification of practically all the compounds present, even in multicomponent reaetion mixtures, and the determination of vibrational frequencies of molecules with high accuracy (up to 0.01 cm when Fourier transform infrared spectrometers are used). 

Advantages of Fourier transform infrared spectrometers are so great that it is nearly impossible to purchase a dispersive infrared spectrometer. Fourier transform visible and ultraviolet spectrometers are not commercially available, because of the requirement to sample the interferometer at intervals of S = l/(2Av). For visible spectroscopy, Av could be 25 000 cm 1 (corresponding to 400 nm), giving S = 0.2 im and a mirror movement of 0.1 xm between data points. Such fine control over significant ranges of mirror motion is not feasible. 

Unlike IR spectroscopy where nowadays FT instrumentation is solely used, in Raman spectroscopy both conventional dispersive and FT techniques have their applications, the choice being governed by several factors. The two techniques differ significantly in several performance criteria, and neither one is best for all applications. Contemporary dispersive Raman spectrometers are often equipped with silicon-based charge coupled device (CCD) multichannel detector systems, and laser sources with operating wavelength in the ultraviolet, visible or near-infrared region are employed. In FT Raman spectroscopy, the excitation is provided exclusively by near-infrared lasers (1064 nm or 780 nm). 

Until the early 1980s, most mid-IR spectrometer systems were double-beam dispersive grating spectrometers, similar in operation to the double-beam system for ultraviolet/visible (UV/VIS) spectroscopy described in Chapter 2. These instruments have been replaced almost entirely by FTIR spectrometers because of the advantages in speed, signal-to-noise ratio, and precision in determining spectral frequency that can be obtained from a modem multiplex instrument. There are NIR instruments that are part of double-beam dispersive UWVIS/NIR systems, but many NIR instruments are stand-alone grating instruments. 

UV-vis refers to absorption spectroscopy in the ultraviolet-visible spectral region. The absorption in the visible range directly affects the perceived color of the chemicals involved. The UV-vis spectra are measured using spin casted films, or dilute polymer solutions. Films are more representative for the active layer behavior in SCs, while solutions are more reliable when comparing the different polymers or blends. For example, the film deposited on ITO substrate may be dissolved in a suitable solvent (e.g., in chloroform at concentration of 25 pg/mL, in 10 mm quartz cell) and either directly used in a spectrometer, or spin casted on glass slides, vacuum dried and measured at the wavelength 280 to 900 nm at a rate of 300 nm/min.i ... 

In Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), a gaseous, solid (as fine particles), or liquid (as an aerosol) sample is directed into the center of a gaseous plasma. The sample is vaporized, atomized, and partially ionized in the plasma. Atoms and ions are excited and emit light at characteristic wavelengths in the ultraviolet or visible region of the spectrum. The emission line intensities are proportional to the concentration of each element in the sample. A grating spectrometer is used for either simultaneous or sequential multielement analysis. The concentration of each element is determined from measured intensities via calibration with standards. 

In atomic spectroscopy, a substance is decomposed into atoms in a flame, furnace, or plasma. (A plasma is a gas that is hot enough to contain ions and free electrons.) Each element is measured by absorption or emission of ultraviolet or visible radiation by the gaseous atoms. To measure trace elements in a tooth, tiny portions of the tooth are vaporized (ablated) by a laser pulse1 and swept into a plasma. The plasma ionizes some of the atoms, which pass into a mass spectrometer that separates ions by their mass and measures their quantity. 

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy The ultraviolet spectra of aromatic compounds are quite different from those of nonaromatic polyenes. For example, benzene has three absorptions in the ultraviolet region an intense band at Amax = 184 nm (e = 68,000), a moderate band at Amax = 204 nm (e = 8800), and a characteristic low-intensity band of multiple absorptions centered around 254 nm (e = 200 to 300). In the UV spectrum of benzene in Figure 16-19, the absorption at 184 nm does not appear because wavelengths shorter than 200 nm are not accessible by standard UV-visible spectrometers. 

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