Brian C. Smith

May 01, 2022

An examination of polymers with C-O bonds, focusing on the spectra of polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose, starch, and copolymers.

March 01, 2022

Epoxies are perhaps the most economically important functional group of polymers. We explain how to interpret their spectra.

January 01, 2022

Many rubbery polymers contain C=C bonds, which means they are alkenes. Thus, we can identify natural and synthetic rubbers by examining the spectra of cis-, trans-, and tri-substituted alkenes.

November 01, 2021

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy can be used to distinguish the spectra of hydrocarbon polymers from one another.

September 01, 2021

Here, we finish a discussion of the spectrum of polyethylene (PE) and explore how different PE syntheses produce materials with different physical and spectroscopic properties.

July 01, 2021

Polymers contain practically every infrared functional group imaginable. Now that we understand infrared functional groups from previous articles, it is time to look at the spectra of polymers in greater detail.

May 01, 2021

Determining the components in a mixture can be a significant challenge in infrared spectroscopy, but spectral subtraction can help. We show the proper way to perform spectral subtraction, and the pitfalls to avoid.

March 01, 2021

One of the biggest practical limitations of infrared spectroscopy is its difficulty in analyzing mixtures. Infrared library searching can help, but it must be done right.

January 01, 2021

Integrating peak position, height, and width information is important to properly interpret infrared spectra. But do you understand why peak heights and widths vary? We explain.

November 01, 2020

Articles in this column have addressed five main areas: theory, functional groups containing the C-H bond, those containing the C-O bond, those with the C=O bond, and those with organic nitrogen compounds. Here, we review the concepts.