Background/Applications: Each year, many people make New Year’s resolutions which are personal goals or commitments that a person makes for the New Year, often related to self-improvement. One of the most common resolutions is losing weight or generally having a healthier diet. To maintain eating healthier, many individuals will replace high-calorie soft drinks with sugar-free…
Read MoreBackground/Applications: Chlorophyll is the essential pigment that allows plants to absorb energy from light. It absorbs light most strongly in the blue and red portions of the visible spectrum and weakest in the green portions of the spectrum, which gives it its recognizable green color. Detection of chlorophyll dates back to the early 19th century…
Read MoreBackground/Applications: Fluorescence spectroscopy can be used in a wide range of applications from medical, to fraud detection, and food safety. For example, in medical applications, fluorescence is being used to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues. In the realm of fraud and counterfeit detection, fluorescent markers are being implanted in products ranging from fuel to…
Read MoreRoundup Experiment In this experiment, we tested low concentrations of glyphosate with a special variable path length dip probe with a narrow tip to measure the chemical’s absorbance. We tested the dip probe with a path length of 10mm and 5mm to also measure the limit of detection for the lower concentrations. As path length…
Read MoreBackground/Applications: Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments that are responsible for the red, purple, and blue coloring in fruits and vegetables. The colored anthocyanins are used as natural food colorants, and as potential pharmaceutical ingredients that give various health benefits. Anthocyanins possess antibacterial and antioxidative qualities that have the ability to improve visual and neurological health and…
Read MoreBackground/Applications: Human skin measurements apply to many industries and field studies with differing analyses in absorbance, transmission, and or reflectance. In this experiment, we tested the absorbance and reflectance of skin samples to analyze skin pigmentation and protein structures. The skin pigmentation studied in this experiment was melanin. Melanin is mainly located in the epidermis…
Read MoreConducted by: David Ademe, Avantes Inc. Theme: Solar Simulator/Irradiance Background/Applications: Spectral irradiance is the irradiance of a surface per unit frequency or wavelength, depending on whether the spectrum is taken as a function of frequency or of wavelength. The two forms have different dimensions: spectral irradiance of a frequency spectrum is measured in watts per…
Read MoreConducted by: David Ademe (Applications Engineer), and Sara Beard (Chemistry Intern), Avantes Inc. Background/Applications: Indocyanine Green (ICG) is a powdered dye that is used for fluorescence imaging in a variety of medical applications. Indocyanine green emits fluorescence between 750 nm and 950 nm with maximum values of approximately 810 nm when dissolved in water. Compared…
Read MoreConducted by: David Ademe (Applications Engineer), Avantes Inc. Theme: NIR Reflection Spectroscopy Background/Applications: Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a spectroscopic method that uses the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (from 780 nm to 2500 nm). Typical applications of NIR spectroscopy include the analysis of pharmaceuticals, materials, pulse oximetry, and food products. Along with food products,…
Read MoreSpectra of the Month (April, 2022) Conducted by: David Ademe (Applications Engineer), Avantes Inc. Theme: LIBS Background/Applications: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectroscopy which uses a highly energetic laser pulse as the excitation source. The laser is focused to form a plasma, which atomizes and excites samples. The formation of…
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