The Infrared Spectra of Polymers II: Polyethylene

Four finalists for the FACSS Innovation Award presented on the afternoon of October 8, 2026, at SciX 2026. Their work spanned drone-mounted laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a touch-and-sound virtual reality system for blind scientists, polarized infrared (IR) imaging of shape memory polymers, and an ultrasound-activated plasmonic nanoplatform aimed at Parkinson’s disease.

Top content published this week include an examination of how near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is being changed by machine learning and the final part in a panel discussion on spectroscopy education.

Wednesday's program at SciX 2026 kept returning to one question: can spectroscopy perform outside the controlled laboratory? Speakers took surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), mid-infrared photonics, chemometrics, and fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy into clinics, food plants, reactor coolant loops, brine fields, and drinking water supplies.

Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, long the workhorse of molecular fingerprinting, is being reinvented by photothermal detection schemes and quantum cascade laser (QCL) sources that push spatial resolution and analysis speed far beyond classical dispersive and interferometric limits. New instrumentation such as optical photothermal infrared (O-PTIR) microscopy and laser direct infrared (LDIR) chemical imaging is enabling sub-micron, label-free chemical mapping of biological, environmental, and pharmaceutical samples. This article reviews the latest FT-IR-adjacent technologies, recent patents, and research driving the field, featuring perspectives from the scientists and instrument developers advancing the technique.

Top content published this week include a panel discussion with five SpecAcademy instructors and a feature article on Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy.

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

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.

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.