IR SPECTRAL INTERPRETATION

In this "IR Spectral Interpretation" digital supplement, Spectroscopy brings together some of the most popular and impactful articles from our "IR Spectral Workshop" column. Curated by our column editor Brian Smith, who has guided the column since 2015, this special collection highlights the enduring relevance of infrared (IR) spectroscopy and its role as a cornerstone of modern analytical chemistry.

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Spectral Frontiers: Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Spectral FrontiersOctober 19th, 2026

The Overtone Frontier: Chip-Scale Sensors, Chemometrics, and the Long Chase for Noninvasive NIR Diagnostics

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, built on the weak overtone and combination-band absorptions first exploited commercially in the 1970s, is now being reshaped by chip-scale MEMS sensors, rapid field calibration methods, and increasingly capable chemometric and machine-learning models.

PFAS spiking experiments in bean plants (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Atomic PerspectivesOctober 19th, 2026

Elemental Analytical Methods in the Field of Non-metal Analysis: The Fluorine Challenge

This Atomic Perspectives column explains how high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace molecular absorption spectrometry (HR-CS-GFMAS) quantifies extractable organic fluorine (EOF) as a PFAS sum parameter, complementing LC-MS/MS target analysis, with applications to German river sediments, bean plants, and fluorinated polymer sealing materials.

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October 19th, 2026

Stepping Up to the Plate: A Baseball Analogy for Raman Scattering

At SciX, Marc Porter explains how a Thanksgiving batting lesson led him to compare a bat meeting a ball to light scattering off a molecule, and how his group is using simulations to test whether the analogy holds.

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October 19th, 2026

Why Spectroscopy Education Should Aim for Revolution, Not Evolution

Alessandro De Giacomo argues that grounding students in scientific fundamentals, rather than rushing them toward applications, is what makes breakthrough ideas possible.

October 16th, 2026

Best of the Week: Where is Raman Heading and More Highlights from SciX 2026

Top content published this week includes coverage from the 2026 SciX Conference, which took place in Sparks, Nevada, from October 4–9.

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October 16th, 2026

The Electroslippage Effect: Generating Energy While Enhancing Flow in Brush-Grafted Nanochannels

In this SciX interview segment, Siddhartha Das explains how his group’s simulations revealed a nanochannel scenario that produces energy and boosts flow at the same time. This overturns the classical electroviscous trade-off without breaking the laws of thermodynamics.

Clinical diagnosis and collaboration. Ideal for healthcare technology, radiology, and/or AI diagnostics marketing | Image Credit: © DragonImages - stock.adobe.com

October 15th, 2026

Building Infection Diagnostics That Clinics Will Actually Use

At SciX, Juergen Popp explains why a new infection test must fit hospital workflows, outperform the gold standard, and cost about a euro or less per test. He also describes a host-response test that could change how emergency departments treat suspected sepsis.

October 15th, 2026

How Confocal Raman Microscopy Inside Porous Silica Became an Alternative to Surface-Enhanced Spectroscopy

Jay Kitt of the University of Utah explains that his group’s platform for quantitative Raman measurements inside chromatographic particles didn’t come from a search for signal enhancement. It grew out of a decade of chromatography and biochemistry research.