Tom Tague

Handheld Raman spectrometers are now designed and built for practical everyday use in a vast array of applications. The new BRAVO by Bruker takes handheld Raman Spectroscopy to a new level, overcoming the limitations of previously available systems such as limited wavelength accuracy, non-safe laser usage and fluorescence interference. Now with BRAVO wavelength accuracy is significantly better than competitive devices resulting in the highest data consistency and the BRAVO incorporates new technology called Sequentially Shifted Excitation (SSE™) to mitigate fluorescence.

Modern paints and varnishes are complex mixtures and the optimization of the material properties is an important task. One of the most essential variables is the curing which should in most cases take place in a reasonably short time span that can range from a fraction of a second to many days. It is difficult to evaluate the degree of the curing and its completeness by visual inspection. Therefore, an unbiased and reliable quantitative analysis is needed in quality control but also in R&D to optimize the varnish or the curing method respectively.