COURSE 2: July 21 through 25, 2008
INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY II.
Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy Applied to Polymer and Forensic Science

A second course on infrared spectroscopy will be of general interest to chemists and other scientists who work in the fields of polymer and forensic science. The interpretation of infrared and Raman spectra of polymers is described and a general background on how to measure spectra of the highest quality is given. The format of the course largely follows that of the first week. This course will consist of two sets of lectures.

In the first set, the staff will discuss the theory, instrumentation and optimization of FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, quantitative and sampling techniques, computer methods (including the retrieval of data), quantitative techniques, and integration of IR data with other spectroscopic information. The second set of lectures will center on the interpretation of the infrared and Raman spectra of polymers. Participants will first be introduced to the interpretation of the infrared spectra of polymers. Then in a series of lectures presented by Dr. Bruce Chase of the E. I. du Pont Company, the influence of physical effects on the infrared and Raman spectra of polymeric materials will be discussed.

In the first of two evening workshops, participants will have the opportunity to interpret the infrared spectra of some common, and some not so common, polymers. As one part of the second evening workshop participants participants will make hands-on measurements of drug and fiber samples of the type encountered in many forensic laboratories using a field-portable ATR spectrometer. In the other part, students will encounter, and be asked to interpret, a variety of spectra designed to illustrate how polymer crystallinity, the sequence of co-monomers, and weathering, affect infrared and Raman spectra. Furthermore, they will be introduced to vapor-phase spectra of the type that might be encountered during TGA/FT-IR spectrometric measurements.

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Last Updated: July 19, 2007