Chapter 3 . Laboratory Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Methods for Geologic Samples

INTRODUCTION Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a technique used to determine qualitative and quantitative features of IR-active molecules in organic or inorganic solid, liquid or gas samples. It is a rapid and relatively inexpensive method for the analysis of solids that are crystalline, microcrystalline, amorphous, or films. Samples are analyzed on the scale of microns to the scale of kilometers and new advances make sample preparation, where needed, relatively straightforward. Another advantage of the IR technique is that it also can provide information about the " light elements " (e.g., H and C) in inorganic substances. Laboratory FTIR spectroscopy is used by geochemists to determine mineral structure (e.g., Farmer 1974, van der Marel & Beutelspacher 1976), to quantify volatile element concentrations, isotopic substitutions and structural changes in natural and synthetic minerals, glasses and melts Wolf 1995, King et al. 2004), to examine the origin of color and properties of minerals (e.g., Rossman 1988b, Clark 2004), to examine thermodynamic and transport properties of geologic materials (e.g., Hofmeister 2004), to examine geologic materials in