Molecular Spectroscopy Workbench - Revisiting the Polarization Interferometer (PDF)

In this column, I describe what I believe may be the origin of this fluorescence emission and support my conjecture with some measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Understanding the origin of these interfering backgrounds may enable you to design experiments with less interference, avoid the laser illuminations that make things worse, or both.

Because there is a different Raman signature for each of the polymorphs as well as the contaminants, Raman microscopy is an ideal tool for analyzing the structure of these materials as well as identifying possible contaminants that would also interfere with performance.

The use of polarized Raman microscopy to complement the polarized light micrographs of spherulites in polymers reveals much about the orientation behavior of the lamellae in spherulites.

Raman spectroscopy has the capability of accurately determining the physical and chemical properties of bioplastics (polyhydroxybutyrate hexanoate [PHBHx]), which helps determine the maximum crystallinity a polymer can experience.

Studying the crystallinity of biodegradable polymers can be done without the complexity of larger instruments. Here’s how.

Extractables and leachable are typically studied using chromatographic techniques. This study explores what we can learn by using from using Raman microscopy for such studies.