Vacuum FTIR spectrometer with imaging FTIR microscope

• Subject Area: Molecular Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 448298270

A modern Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer with an imaging FTIR microscope is requested, which can be used for the rapid and quantitative analysis of substances and mixtures of compounds, for the elucidation of structures and bonding situations, for the identification of unknown molecular compounds and solids, and for kinetic studies. The required measurement methods include transmission, attenuated total reflection (ATR), directional reflection, diffuse reflection, and FTIR microscopy, which enable reliable and fast analysis of solid and liquid samples without prior sample preparation, as well as the analysis of surfaces and thin layer structures with lateral resolution up to 10-25 x10-6m. or several research groups at the faculty of chemistry and mineralogy, FTIR spectroscopic investigations of classic and organometallic coordination compounds are the subject of current investigations. There is an increasing need for FTIR spectroscopic and microscopic examinations in the MIR and FIR wavelength ranges. This also includes measurements under vacuum conditions (avoidance of disturbances by water vapor, CO2, atmospheric oxygen), measurements over a larger wavelength range (i.e. FIR range 350-80 cm-1) and the advanced sampling technology (examination of surfaces, thin films and layers (fibers in hydrogels) by grazing reflection on the microscope and vacuum spectrometer). The integration of a helium cryostat in the vacuum spectrometer allows samples to be cooled down to a few Kelvins (approx. 4-300 K), which are required to investigate the thermodynamics of weak host-guest or gas-solid-state interactions on porous molecular compounds. The spectrometer configuration requested here extends the analysis techniques available at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry considerably. This applies in particular to surface analysis and analysis of small samples using FTIR microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy over a wide temperature range. The spectrometer system requested here therefore offers significantly more options than the existing FTIR equipment and is intended to contribute to the development of new scientific fields. In order to remain scientifically competitive, the provision of these previously non-existent measurement methodologies is urgently required.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Vakuum-FTIR-Spektrometer mit bildgebendem FTIR-Mikroskop
• Instrumentation Group: 1830 Fourier-Transform-IR-Spektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Leipzig
• Leader: Professor Dr. Berthold Kersting