Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a valuable tool to measure the absorption spectrum of material adsorbed on opaque solid samples. By comparing with results obtained for similar materials in solution, one can answer questions such as "How does a support material influence the photochemical behavior of an adsorbed substrate?" or "How do the dynamics of charge separation differ in a heterogeneous medium?"

At the NDRL, UV/visible and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometers are equipped with DRS attachments. In addition, we have a transient absorption spectroscopy facility. A 532 nm laser pulse (10 mJ, pulse width 6 ns) from a Quanta Ray DCR-1 Nd:YAG laser system is used for excitation while the white light from a 1000 W Xenon lamp serves as a probe. The diffusely reflected monitoring light from the sample is collected and focused onto a monochromator which is fitted to a photomultiplier tube. The transient signal is then digitized. Using this setup we can obtain kinetic and mechanistic information on photochemical transients generated on solid surfaces on the timescale of 100 nanoseconds to 100 microseconds.

Supported by the Division of
Chemical Sciences
Office of
Basic Energy Sciences
at the
U.S. Department of Energy

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Radiation Laboratory
Univ. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556

Tel: (574) 631-6163
Fax: (574) 631-8068

Last Modified: 06/28/2010