Quantitative Aspects of FT-IR Spectroscopy in Industrial Applications

Abstract

Infrared spectroscopy is an old technique that is widely used for the analysis and identification of materials. It is an optical method based on the absorption of radiation due to vibrations of molecular groups of which the frequencies fall in the infrared region of the spectrum. Up to some ten years ago this kind of spectroscopy was mainly carried out with wavelength or frequency dispersive instruments to record e.g. the energy transmitted through a sample as a function of the wavelength — i.e. the IR spectrum. The limited sensitivity of this technique, however, particularly in comparison with that of fast growing other spectroscopic methods such as mass spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance, caused IR spectroscopy to lose a great deal of its importance.