PIKE Technologies is a primary source for spectroscopy accessories and applications worldwide. Products include attenuated total reflectance (ATR), diffuse reflectance, specular reflectance, integrating spheres, polarization, IR microscope, beam condensers, remote sensing, and a complete line of transmission sampling accessories. View our latest product introductions, overviews and instructional videos.
Hi Henry, Great question - we have a tip how to clean your cells made already! Here is the link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_UvAnbxfR6I.html And yes, you should run another measurement to confirm :)
Hi Brian, if you take a moment, you will find many valuable tips and tricks on our channel that do not specifically require our tools and accessories. Take care!
Whaaaaat?????!!! A Pike Tech Tip-of-the-week on a Wednesday?!! You had me going to the calendar to see if I had unknowingly skipped a couple of days this week :) As always very informative - thanks!
Haha thank you so much! Though I am not sure why it only showed up for you on a Wednesday, this one was published Jan 19th! We wish we could post mid-week to change it up a little, but consistency keeps the momentum going. Thank you so much for your support!
Hi there, Thank you so much for your patience! I'm sorry to hear not all of your questions were answered. Can you please contact us via info@piketech.com? Thank you again and we look forward to serving you!
Hi Joel, DCHA is soluble in most organic solvents. Be sure, however, that your solvents are dry. Even a very small amount of moisture in the solvents can cloud your KBr cell windows.
Hi there, can you try refreshing the page? Please make sure your video plays automatically, otherwise, you may need to manually click the 'play' button. If you still have trouble, please contact us directly: info@piketech.com. Thank you!
We are so happy to hear you enjoy our tips, and love your suggestion. We’ll see if any of our colleagues have a firepit to grab a sample for measurements. Stay tuned!
Thank you for your question, @wildreams. To avoid residue/contaminants, be sure to use an ultra-clean, spectroscopic-grade solvent. To dry the cell, I like to use an empty syringe and push air through the cell to speed the drying process. 😉
Hi @mirceadanpuia9688, We use a broadband AR coating, which provides a nice wide range and does not interfere with the mid-IR spectral range. If you look at the energy throughput spectrum shown at the 1:40 min mark you can see small signatures due to the coating, but these will ratio out. 😊
The video is from two years ago, but I have a question. If I put for example KBr and do a backround and then put my sample and subtract, will the contaminants disappear?
Hi Martim, When ratioing your sample spectrum to your background, contamination, for the most part, will cancel out if you are diluting at a very low concentration. Feel free to reach out to us via piketech.com with more questions! :)
Thanks for the tips! Any thoughts on sloping baselines for particle samples? I've gotten severe sloping on gold nanoparticle deposits that I could never resolve. I think I once read that this could be from scattering by the particles? Not sure if this is related to the critical angle issue you mentioned or a different phenomenon.
Hello madam. I use 3 mm transmition disq and some time i see some sinus waves, i reduse it by smothing but it not helpful and causes data losing, how can i fix it??
If you are seeing fringing using a liquid transmission cell with ZnSe windows, the easiest resolution is to consider a lower refractive index window relative to ZnSe---this will significantly reduce fringing. You can see an example of an aqueous sample here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sawHHgsFx5U.html You are always welcome to reach out to us directly and we can discuss your sample and spectra further!
Excellent - I wish I had thought of this in the past. I'll definitely suggest this technique as a possibility when our researchers are having difficulty! Thanks much!
So glad you made these last two videos. ATR is so often taken as the be-all, do-all, go-to method for FTIR analysis. It is a good easy method, but there are some limitations that can really trip you up if you are not aware of them. Thanks for these and all of your videos!!
My experience is that ATR correction should particularly be used when acquiring spectra for compounds that contain OH or NH groups as the absorbances for these functional groups will be very low without these corrections.
Hi Sena, My guess here is your sample is not compatible with the window material. Perhaps you are using a soluble salt window like KBr or NaCl when there is moisture in your samples, and this is causing the foggy, cloudy window. That said, keep in mind even when a window is a little cloudy you can still get good transmission through it! Even when the window does not look as pretty, it is still usable!
Hi Chen, Thanks for the question and watching our Tips. You can find a handy table in our Transmission Theory and Applications Note where we list MP of many IR windows! see below. www.piketech.com/wp-content/uploads/PIKE-Technologies_Transmission_Theory_and_Applications.pdf
Hi Cam, There are some low-absorbing samples that will require a higher concentration like 5%. I typically start at 1%. If my absorbance bands are too small I bump up the sample concentration. If too big I reduce the concentration. You can learn more about making the perfect pellet recipe here: tinyurl.com/4bymn4wb
Great question! For a background, I used the bottom of our steel aluminum EasiDiff macro cup, which has a flat bottom. It has a ‘machine’ finish but was not a polished surface (probably a little scattering).
When choosing a window for IR liquid transmission cells, consider a window with the best solubility, sample pH, spectral range, and I like to stay with a low RI window when possible to minimize fringing in the IR spectrum. You may find that you need to make compromises. You can see window properties in our Theory and Application note, www.piketech.com/wp-content/uploads/PIKE-Technologies_Transmission_Theory_and_Applications.pdf
Thank you for your question! Definitely try the Kramers Kronig transform when you see derivative-shaped bands to make the spectrum appear more transmission-like. For coatings and ultra-thin films on reflective substrates, often the spectrum will already appear like a transmission spectrum, and no transformation is required.
@@user-ub8hg1hu5s We have a video about this, 3 Things to Learn About Coatings on Reflective Surfaces! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VQLRPRcAriA.html
For FTIR analysis, accessories can be categorized as ATR, Diffuse Reflection, Specular Reflection, and Transmission. Visit our application section of our website where we have posted short summaries of each method. You’ll find these under each header.
Hi, our ZnSe cristal for IR ATR was damaged by acid suspension, i join a photo of thé surface of thé photo I would like@ if there is a method to repar this damege. Thanks you
The cut off a ZnSe depends on the pathlength of the IR beam through the ATR crystal. With the HATR crystal (80 mm long) this path is quite long. The cut off for the ZnSe HATR crystal is 560 cm-1. Please email us at info@piketech.com if you would like us to send a throughput spectrum.
Hi Caleb, Yes, we are happy to help! Please contact us through our website, www.piketech.com/contact-us/ Our other contact information is located at the bottom footer, including direct email and phone number!