Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy

Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized energy storage across consumer electronics, electric vehicles, and grid-scale systems, but further advancement requires overcoming challenges in safety, performance, affordability, and sustainability as production scales from laboratory to gigafactory levels. This article highlights the essential role of analytical chemistry techniques and rigorous process control in mitigating thermal runaway, reducing variability, managing impurities, optimizing costs, and improving recyclability to enable safer, higher-performing, and more sustainable next-generation battery technologies.

This column considers the spectra of saturated rings, such as cyclopentane and cyclohexane, and how not all of them are easily detectable by infrared spectroscopy.

A recent study presented a reagent-free FT-IR-based spectroscopic method that detects melamine adulteration in milk powder at concentrations as low as 0.46 parts per million.

Over the past two years, Spectroscopy magazine has extensively documented and analyzed the growing role of artificial intelligence in spectroscopy through articles, interviews, podcasts, and technical features, highlighting both its hype and its potential as a transformative advancement in data processing and analytical science.

A recent article examines whether attenuated total reflection (ATR) accessories with diamond elements truly function as “universal” sampling tools for FT-IR analysis, highlighting the technique’s practical advantages alongside important limitations rooted in sample properties and instrument considerations.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have demonstrated that widely used spectroscopic methods for detecting adulteration in edible bird's nest products are based on a false assumption — that genuine product has a uniform chemical signature.

Spectroscopy is telling us the extraterrestrial history of space objects, helping us learn about planetary origins.

This new feature in Spectroscopy introduces a structured, application-focused series that curates and examines the most influential research papers in molecular and atomic spectroscopy. Each installment presents a focused “Top 10” collection of seminal publications within a specific analytical domain, spanning techniques such as ultraviolet–visible, infrared, Raman, near-infrared, and atomic spectroscopy. Across biomedical, biopharmaceutical, environmental, and forensic applications, the selected papers illustrate how spectroscopic methods are applied to real-world analytical challenges. Emphasis is placed on the integration of spectral data with chemometric approaches to enable robust calibration, accurate prediction, and meaningful interpretation. Together, these curated collections provide practitioners with a concise, application-oriented perspective on impactful developments in spectroscopy. This article brings together the first nine “Top 10” collections in the series, offering a cross-disciplinary view of influential work shaping the field.

The following articles are the 10 most accessed digital object identifier (DOI) manuscripts for Spectroscopy and LCGC International during March, 2026.

What does the rise of portable and handheld spectroscopic instrumentation tell us?

In the second part of our interview with José Miguel Hernández Hierro, an associate professor at the Universidad de Sevilla, he discusses the scalability challenges in this work, touching upon variables such as raw material variability, extraction efficiency, and storage stability.

Can grape pomace be a plant-based alternative to help improve wine stability and sensor quality? José Miguel Hernández-Hierro, who is an associate professor at the Universidad de Sevilla, explains why it might.

Brian Smith offers a review of the C-H stretching and bending vibrations of methyl and methylene groups and then discusses how to use infrared spectroscopy to determine some of the branch points found in alkanes.

Over the past two years, molecular spectroscopy has undergone a marked transformation from a predominantly laboratory-based analytical approach into a field-deployable, data-rich forensic toolkit. This evolution has been driven by three converging trends: (i) advances in vibrational spectroscopic instrumentation (Fourier transform infrared [FT-IR], Raman, and near-infrared [NIR], (ii) the integration of chemometrics and machine learning for extracting actionable information from complex spectra, and (iii) the emergence of portable and miniaturized devices suitable for in situ analysis. The ten papers reviewed here collectively demonstrate how spectroscopy is now addressing some of the most persistent challenges in forensic science—such as time since deposition (TSD), post-mortem interval (PMI), trace evidence discrimination, and rapid drug identification—while maintaining evidentiary integrity through non-destructive analysis. Importantly, these works also reflect a shift toward interpretability, validation, and legal defensibility, which are essential for courtroom acceptance.

In this Q&A overview, we explore how vibrational spectroscopy is set to help create a robust framework for identifying complex biomarkers that traditional blood tests might not be able to detect.

In this interview clip, Lenka Halámková, an assistant professor of high-dimensional data analysis at Texas Tech University, explains the next steps needed in order for attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and machine learning to become a part of routine forensic and clinical toxicology workflows for opioid exposure.

In this interview clip, Lenka Halámková, an assistant professor of high-dimensional data analysis at Texas Tech University, explains her team’s data-driven approach when detecting fentanyl in human nails.

This article is derived from an invited talk given at the Pittcon Conference and Expo in San Antonio, Texas on Monday, March 9, exploring how generative artificial intelligence may transform the daily practice of analytical chemistry. It was presented in The James L. Waters Symposium.

In this Q&A overview, we explore how these scientific advancements are reshaping our understanding of Ancient Egyptian history and culture.

In this video clip from Pittcon 2026, Lenka Halámková, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, provides an overview of her talk at Pittcon.

In this review article, the authors highlight the latest advancements in infrared (IR) spectroscopy in gas drilling.

The Pittcon (Pittsburgh) Conference and Expo in San Antonio featured a forward-looking symposium exploring how generative artificial intelligence (AI) may transform the daily practice of analytical chemistry. The James L. Waters Symposium, “Generative AI in the Analytical Chemist’s Toolbox for Chemical Measurements”, took place on Monday, March 9, 2026 (2:30–4:40 p.m.) in Room 221A. The session was presided over by Daniel W. Armstrong of The University of Texas at Arlington, who introduced the topic by emphasizing the rapidly expanding knowledge base required of modern analytical chemists. In addition to chemistry, today’s analytical scientist must command elements of physics, advanced mathematics, data science, and, increasingly, AI. The symposium focused on the practical integration of generative AI tools into chemical measurement science. Speakers discussed how AI can assist analytical chemists with tasks such as algorithm generation, signal processing, literature synthesis, and data interpretation. Importantly, the session emphasized responsible implementation, highlighting the need for rigorous validation, high-quality data sets, and integration into existing laboratory workflows.

This overview of nearfield spectroscopy highlights how this technique operates and when it should be used.

At the Pittcon Conference and Expo in Saan Antonio, Texas, on Monday, March 9, 2026 (8:30–11:00 AM, Room 304C), the session “Spectroscopy and Sustainability: A Perfect Match” explored how modern spectroscopic technologies are helping laboratories and industries operate more efficiently while reducing environmental impact. Chaired by John Wasylyk and sponsored by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy, the session brought together 6 presentations covering applications from pharmaceutical process monitoring and biomedical diagnostics to chemical manufacturing, defense, and remote sensing. Throughout the morning, a consistent theme emerged: spectroscopy’s speed, nondestructive nature, and rich chemical information make it inherently aligned with the goals of sustainability.

As part of our coverage of the Pittcon 2026 conference, Spectroscopy sat down with Seth Kenkel to talk about his work using nearfield infrared (IR) spectroscopy.