Sure, you can use any suitable filter that is transparent in the MIR range. However, following literature advice by the pioneers of microplastic analysis (e.g. Gerdts et al) Al2O3 offer the best comprise between spectral quality and available spectral range for identification - together with easy handling and broad availability.
Hey Joshua, while FT-IR is an amazing approach for microplastics, particles smaller than 5 microns are not accessible via transmission IR. While ATR-FT-IR microscopy is able to analyze structures as small as 1.25 µm, it is rarely used in microplastics analysis due to other limitations (e.g. accidental carry-over).
What is the smallest detection size? From what I know, FTIR can't accurately analyse MPs smaller than 10 micron. So if you want to analyse smaller particles, you would need to use Raman or chromatography.
Thanks to its powerful FPA-Imaging detector the LUMOS II can detect particles down to 5 µm and is operating at the physical diffraction limit of light. While size determination at that resolution may not always be perfect, but as close as nature's laws allow, chemical identification of such small particles is still feasible.
Is there any advantage to using an Al2O3 filter? Can we also use a silicon filter in LUMOS II?
Sure, you can use any suitable filter that is transparent in the MIR range. However, following literature advice by the pioneers of microplastic analysis (e.g. Gerdts et al) Al2O3 offer the best comprise between spectral quality and available spectral range for identification - together with easy handling and broad availability.
Please can this equipment detect up to 1 micron of MPs? I would appreciate your response ASAP please thanks.
Hey Joshua, while FT-IR is an amazing approach for microplastics, particles smaller than 5 microns are not accessible via transmission IR. While ATR-FT-IR microscopy is able to analyze structures as small as 1.25 µm, it is rarely used in microplastics analysis due to other limitations (e.g. accidental carry-over).
What is the smallest detection size? From what I know, FTIR can't accurately analyse MPs smaller than 10 micron. So if you want to analyse smaller particles, you would need to use Raman or chromatography.
Thanks to its powerful FPA-Imaging detector the LUMOS II can detect particles down to 5 µm and is operating at the physical diffraction limit of light. While size determination at that resolution may not always be perfect, but as close as nature's laws allow, chemical identification of such small particles is still feasible.
Darcy, How can we use Raman to analyse smaller particles?