{"id":48144,"date":"2015-11-19T15:48:39","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T21:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/?p=2873"},"modified":"2022-05-27T16:48:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T21:48:03","slug":"preparation-polymer-samples-microspectroscopy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/preparation-polymer-samples-microspectroscopy\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparation of Polymer Samples for Microspectroscopy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.78571;\"><strong>Presenter:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"line-height: 1.78571;\">Kristen D. Wiley<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.78571;\">Do you have a polymer sample that needs to be identified with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/fourier-transform-infrared-spectroscopy\">FTIR<\/a>? Using specialized microtools, you can prepare stubborn plastic particles for analysis following these few tips. 24 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/I3_aGa0E53w?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"prepend-file\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Webinar-PreparingPolymerSamples.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download the slides.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"prepend-file\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Transcript_Preparing_Polymer_Samples_for_Microspectroscopy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download the transcript.<\/a><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wpcf7 no-js\" id=\"wpcf7-f52096-o1\" lang=\"en-US\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<div class=\"screen-reader-response\"><p role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\"><\/p> <ul><\/ul><\/div>\n<form action=\"\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48144#wpcf7-f52096-o1\" method=\"post\" class=\"wpcf7-form init chimpmatic-1.3.5 mailchimp-ext-0.5.72\" aria-label=\"Contact form\" novalidate=\"novalidate\" data-status=\"init\">\n<div style=\"display: none;\">\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7\" value=\"52096\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_version\" value=\"5.9.3\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_locale\" value=\"en_US\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_unit_tag\" value=\"wpcf7-f52096-o1\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_container_post\" value=\"0\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_posted_data_hash\" value=\"\" \/>\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wpcf7_recaptcha_response\" value=\"\" \/>\n<\/div>\n<p>Add your contact information to our list, and we\u2019ll let you know when new webinars become available.\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-name\"><input size=\"40\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-required form-control col-6\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"Name\" value=\"\" type=\"text\" name=\"your-name\" \/><\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap\" data-name=\"your-email\"><input size=\"40\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-email wpcf7-validates-as-required wpcf7-text wpcf7-validates-as-email form-control col-6\" aria-required=\"true\" aria-invalid=\"false\" placeholder=\"Email\" value=\"\" type=\"email\" name=\"your-email\" \/><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"form-group\">\n\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"form-group\">\n\t<p><input class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-submit has-spinner btn btn-primary\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" \/>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div><p style=\"display: none !important;\" class=\"akismet-fields-container\" data-prefix=\"_wpcf7_ak_\"><label>&#916;<textarea name=\"_wpcf7_ak_hp_textarea\" cols=\"45\" rows=\"8\" maxlength=\"100\"><\/textarea><\/label><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"ak_js_1\" name=\"_wpcf7_ak_js\" value=\"78\"\/><script>document.getElementById( \"ak_js_1\" ).setAttribute( \"value\", ( new Date() ).getTime() );<\/script><\/p><div class=\"wpcf7-response-output\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div><p style=\"display: none !important\"><span class=\"wpcf7-form-control-wrap referer-page\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"referer-page\" value=\"http:\/\/Direct%20Visit\" data-value=\"http:\/\/Direct%20Visit\" class=\"wpcf7-form-control wpcf7-text referer-page\" aria-invalid=\"false\"><\/span><\/p>\n<!-- Chimpmatic extension by Renzo Johnson -->\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2>Transcript<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Charles Zona (CZ):<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hello, my name is Charles Zona, and I\u2019d like to thank everyone for attending today\u2019s webinar. Our topic today is the Preparation of Polymer Samples for Microspectroscopy, and it will be presented by Kristen Wiley and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/staff\/heidi-m-talesky\/\">Heidi Talesky<\/a>. But before we get started, I would like to talk a little bit about The McCrone Group, for those of you who aren\u2019t familiar with our services.<\/p>\n<p>The McCrone Group consists of three divisions: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/hookecollege\">Hooke College of Applied Sciences<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/instrument-sales\">McCrone Microscopes &amp; Accessories<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/materials-analysis\">McCrone Associates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hooke College of Applied Sciences\u2014that\u2019s our education division, offers professional development courses in materials science, including instrument-based courses such as polarized light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, micro-FTIR and Raman, along with special topics courses, such as gunshot residue analysis, specimen isolation and preparation, which we\u2019re going to hear a little bit about today, fiber identification, pharmaceutical contaminants, and a whole host of other courses.<\/p>\n<p>For a complete listing of our professional development courses, or more information about our programs, please visit our website.<\/p>\n<p>McCrone Microscopes &amp; Accessories is our instrument sales division. They are a preferred dealer for Nikon industrial microscopes and metrology systems, and also the national dealer for the JEOL NeoScope benchtop scanning electron microscopy system, and are a preferred national dealer for Linkam thermal stage systems, and many other microscopy-based laboratory tools and supplies.<\/p>\n<p>McCrone Associates, the analytical division of The McCrone Group, is an A2LA accredited laboratory providing materials analysis services, specializing in solving industry\u2019s toughest problems, using light and electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman, FTIR, and other cutting-edge techniques and applications.<\/p>\n<p>So for more information on any of the three divisions of The McCrone Group, please visit The McCrone Group website.<\/p>\n<p>And now I\u2019d like to introduce today\u2019s presenters: Kristen and Heidi are both senior cleanroom microscopists at McCrone Associates, with over 30 years of combined experience. They\u2019re also instructors for Hooke College of Applied Sciences where they teach specialized sample preparation techniques for polarized light microscopy, micro-FTIR and Raman, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. For those of you interested in attending their course this year, it will be offered October 6th through the 8th, and for more information about the course, you can visit the Hooke College website for more details.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the webinar, Kristen and Heidi will field questions from the audience, and you can type your questions into the chat box.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s webinar is being recorded, and will be available on The McCrone Group website, right under the webinars tab.<\/p>\n<p>And now, I will hand the program over to Kristen Wiley.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Kristen Wiley:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thanks so much, Chuck, and I just want to take a minute to thank everyone who has taken the time out of their busy schedules to join us here today. I\u2019m really going to try to keep this short and sweet, and at the end, like Chuck mentioned, I\u2019ll answer any questions that anyone may have.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m just going to jump right in, here. As most of you know, polymers can come in a variety of different forms, such as parts and components, they can make up layers of multi-layered films, or they could be packaging materials, such as these rubber stoppers and centrifuge tubes that you see here.<\/p>\n<p>Today I\u2019m going to go over two techniques that I use for mounting two different types of packaging materials for FTIR analysis in transmission.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to take a look at rubber stoppers, which are a soft, elastomeric polymer. We\u2019re also going to take a look at a plastic shaving from a tube, which is a harder polymer.<\/p>\n<p>Selection of the appropriate sampling method is crucial to achieving good results. There are several out there to choose from, and the two we\u2019re going to talk about today are, what we call here at McCrone, the micro cover glass method, and the glass wedge method.<\/p>\n<p>The micro cover glass method requires small micro cover glasses as you see here, which are actually made from your standard large cover glasses. Most everybody has a large cover glass laying around, so <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/making-micro-cover-glass-squares\/\">you can make these yourself<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You do this by scoring one side of the large cover glass with the diamond scribe, in both the vertical and horizontal direction. This gives you the ability to make them as large or small as you need.<\/p>\n<p>The glass wedge method requires the use of a glass slide, and we turn it into what we call a wedge. And again, everyone has slides laying around, so you can make these yourself. You make the wedge by scoring the corner of a glass slide with a carbide scribe, leaving an approximately 1 mm foot on one end, and then snapping it (the scored section) off. You just want to make sure that when you do the snapping, you snap away from yourself, and be careful so you don\u2019t cut yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Some other micro tools that you might need when you\u2019re preparing small particles\u2014small particles require small tools\u2014so some other micro tools that you may need are a tungsten needle, a carbide scribe, curved forceps, and a substrate holder, such as this KBr holder as you see here.<\/p>\n<p>The substrate I\u2019m going to be working on today is a micro potassium bromide crystal, or micro KBr. We purchase it as a 1\u201d x 1\u201d crystal, and it can be cleaved in several different areas to make several smaller KBr crystals, as you see in that box here on the right.<\/p>\n<p>So now I\u2019m going to show you a video. This first one, this first video here, is going to cover the micro cover glass method. Right here, you see me, I\u2019m transferring smaller pieces of my sample, with my tungsten needle, to my substrate slide, which has my micro KBr crystal on it. From the smaller pieces, using the side of my needle, I cut away even smaller pieces, which will be easier to work with and produce a much better spectra.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m going to now use my curved forceps to place a micro cover glass over my sample, and using a carbide scribe, I\u2019m going to apply pressure to the top of the glass, and swirl the cover glass in a circular motion. By doing this, I\u2019m breaking down the elastomeric properties and creating a very sticky residue. This residue should stick to the cover of the micro cover glass, allowing you to transfer it directly to the KBr.<\/p>\n<p>So now I\u2019m going to come back in with my forceps, pick up the cover glass, and place it directly onto the KBr crystal. You can then apply pressure again, with your carbide scribe, to the top of the cover glass, and drag it away from your sample. This transfers the residue then to your KBr crystal, leaving a nice, thin film. I always come in with my needle\u2014the side of my needle\u2014and scribe a box around my sample, which makes it easier to relocate my sample once it\u2019s in the instrument.<\/p>\n<p>Now the same technique is going to be shown here again, but from a side angle, so you can see what it looks like from the side.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m using my forceps to place the micro cover glass over my sample. I\u2019m taking, now, my carbide scribe, applying pressure, and dragging it away from my sample. Now the micro cover glass can just be discarded. So, that was the micro cover glass method.<\/p>\n<p>This next video here\u2014we\u2019re going to take a look at the plastic, harder\u2014the harder plastic pieces. So here I have the plastic shavings, and again I\u2019m going to cut smaller pieces\u2014this time, I\u2019m using a 45\u00b0 micro blade. And now I\u2019m going to switch back to my tungsten needle to move these smaller pieces, and relocate them to a different area on my slide so I have room to manipulate it with my glass wedge. I\u2019m really going to try to make sure that these smaller pieces fall between 200 \u00b5m to 150 \u00b5m; if not even less than that.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m now going to place my glass wedge directly over my particle, and with the carbide scribe, I\u2019m applying pressure to the foot. I\u2019m going to keep applying pressure while moving the wedge back and forth, until I obtain a nice, thin film.<\/p>\n<p>Now here again, the technique\u2019s going to be reviewed again, but this time from the side. You can see I\u2019m applying pressure with the carbide scribe, and my opposite hand is moving the wedge back and forth, until my sample is thin enough.<\/p>\n<p>Now if you\u2019re lucky, sometimes your sample sticks to the wedge itself, and in that case, the wedge can then just be transferred to the micro KBr crystal, and you can apply pressure with the carbide scribe, transferring your sample to your KBr crystal.<\/p>\n<p>Some polymers, you\u2019ll have to cut smaller pieces from your flattened piece, which I\u2019m doing here with my tungsten needle, which actually is giving me a little bit of a difficulty so I\u2019m going to switch to my 45\u00b0 micro blade. I\u2019m then going to press it again with a micro cover glass, so my piece is actually thin enough to obtain a spectra.<\/p>\n<p>Now this thin piece can then be trans-ferred to the micro KBr with my tungsten needle. It has to now be pressed out again, so I\u2019m going to cover it with the micro cover glass, apply pressure with my carbide scribe, and drag it off as I did in the previous video.<\/p>\n<p>Some polymers tend to stick a little bit to the micro cover glass, so that step may have to be repeated a few times. And again, I\u2019m just coming in here with my needle and scribing a box around so I can relocate it into the instrument.<\/p>\n<p>This last step actually shows me transferring the KBr crystal to the substrate holder. This slide can then be placed directly into the instrument.<\/p>\n<p>Now some of you may be wondering what the results are of these two samples that I just mounted, and that\u2019s to be continued\u2026so if you\u2019d like to see how those two samples ended up, you can tune in on September 3rd for Andrea Champagne\u2019s and Mary Stellmack\u2019s webinar on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/techniques-obtaining-infrared-spectra\/\">Techniques for Obtaining Infrared Spectra<\/a>. And again, that will be held on September 3rd.<\/p>\n<p>So at this time, if anyone has any questions about anything you\u2019ve seen here today, I\u2019d be more than happy to answer any questions someone may have.<\/p>\n<h3>Questions &amp; Answers<\/h3>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> Thanks, Kristen. That\u2019s really interesting stuff. Yeah, if you have any questions, please type them into the chat box there, and we\u2019ll start taking a look at those. I think we have one here: \u201cWhat magnification do you work at?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0Oh, that\u2019s a good question. Everyone finds their \u201chappy\u201d magnification. I prefer to work roughly between 40X and 60X. And I should also mention that everything that you\u2019ve seen here was done on a stereomicroscope (not a polarized light microscope), which obviously has a much higher working distance, and you can get your hands under there. So, again, I prefer to work between 40X and 60X, but that may depend on each individual.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> Okay. Let\u2019s see; \u201cWhat size are the tungsten needles?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0The tungsten needles we have, they are made here, in house, and they\u2019re made using a .5 mm diameter tungsten wire. And we sharpen that with sodium nitrite to obtain the sharpness that we need for our individual samples.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Okay. \u201cWhat other techniques do you cover in the course?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0The Hooke College course covers a variety of sample techniques. We cover mounting polymers, paints, fibers, hairs; all for FTIR and SEM analysis. So again, it\u2019s not just for FTIR like we covered today, but also for SEM and EDS. I actually strongly recommend that students should bring in their own samples, so that we can help them obtain the results that they actually need once they get back to their lab.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Boy, the questions are really streaming in now. \u201cCan you do the analysis of the sample mounted on a microscope slide vs. the KBr?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0I don\u2019t believe so, I think glass actually causes too much interference, so you need something that can be invisible to IR. So that\u2019s why we prefer the micro KBr crystal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> Let\u2019s see here\u2026I can\u2019t scroll through these fast enough! \u201cDoes the method accept an official method?\u201d Is there some sort of official method for this?<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0Is it accepted as an official method? That\u2014maybe\u2014I don\u2019t know if the person who wrote that question, if they\u2019re referring to something like SOP related, or an ASTM method, I\u2019m not sure about that one. I\u2019d have to jot that down and contact you directly to find out specifically more what you\u2019re inquiring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> \u201cCan we get a copy of this presentation?\u201d Yeah, it will be available, again, on our website under the Webinars tab, so the complete presentation and the transcript actually will be available as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> I just put up my information. You can contact me at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/contact\">The McCrone Group<\/a>.\u00a0I\u2019d be happy to answer any questions that anyone may have. If I don\u2019t know the answer, I\u2019d be more than happy to find out for you. Are there any more questions?<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong> \u201cI missed how you mounted the KBr to the special holder. Is that two-sided tape?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0The KBr holder is actually\u2026the KBr holder itself is something that McCrone Microscopes &amp; Accessories sells. It\u2019s a special holder that\u2019s hollow in the middle, and there\u2019s a very light adhesive around that hollow opening, so the edges of the KBr crystal are attached to that adhesive, but leaving the center of the KBr, where your samples are prepped, hollow, so the laser can actually come up through the KBr crystal and hit your sample.<br \/>\nI hope that answers your question.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cHow do you flatten high-density or rigid polymers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0The same way, it just takes a little bit more time, a little bit more patience. The glass wedge actually works really great for that. You might have to originally cut a smaller piece. I think the key there is always start small, and right when you think you have small, go smaller. So it takes a lot of time, a lot of patience, but you can break that down and break it up, and you\u2019ll see, eventually, what first appears hard will eventually become soft. Once it becomes soft, you can get it flat, and then you can get your spectrum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0There were a couple of questions like that. Very similar in nature. \u201cDo you sell tungsten needles and other sample prep tools?\u201d Yes, we do at McCrone Microscopes &amp; Accessories. They sell needles that are already sharpened. I believe they\u2019re fine, medium and coarse, so you can definitely get a lot of these supplies from McCrone Microscopes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0They also sell the micro cover glasses, which are really handy, but unfortunately, the micro KBr crystals\u2014we\u2019ve had bad luck trying to ship them in the mail with humidity, because it is KBr. Depending on the humidity, how much moisture is in the air, it can actually damage the surface of the KBr. So we haven\u2019t had much luck shipping those. But I encourage everybody to try making them. They\u2019re very easy to make, and we actually make them and cover that in my three-day class.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s see\u2026\u201dDo you use separate KBr discs for each sample analyzed? If not, how is it best to prevent contamination as samples are pressed into the disc itself?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a good question. I think the best way to answer that is, it depends on how confident you are in your sample preparation. Someone that is probably just starting out, you probably don\u2019t want to put more than three or four samples on your KBr; you want to keep them spaced out. I sometimes use the side of my needle to kind of divide up my crystal, so I know what sample is in what area. Once you get really good at it, you can probably end up with 10 or 20 samples on one KBr crystal, and it also depends on the size of your sample. Sometimes, if we\u2019re really pushing the threshold of small, I could put\u2014if my particles are 30 \u00b5m to 40 \u00b5m each, I could put 10 to 20 on one KBr crystal, but if you have a larger sample, like I was saying, 100-150 \u00b5m, then you probably want to keep to just a couple of samples per KBr.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Next question, \u201cDo you make your micro KBr from your regular cuttings in the lab?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0We actually purchase a 1\u201d x 1\u201d crystal, and from that, we just use a razor blade to and cleave the crystal in several different areas. One crystal we can probably get roughly between 40 and 50 micro crystals. If they are kind of, like you\u2019re saying, irregular, if I am understanding your question, if they are a little irregular and rough, we use a very fine grit sandpaper to sand it down so it\u2019s nice and even, and a flat surface, and then we polish it with a little bit of water on a clean wipe, and if you repeat that motion a few times, you should get a nice, smooth surface.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0several questions here I think regarding infrared\u2014questions like ATR versus transmission, and things of that nature, which I think we\u2019ll address next week with Andrea and Mary\u2014some of those questions. Let\u2019s see\u2026 \u201cDoes pressing the sample induce strain in the sample and affect the IR spectra?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0Not that I\u2019m aware of. I think if the sample\u2019s small enough, there\u2019s really no strain in the sample, so your spectra would be the same. So, there wouldn\u2019t be\u2026you have it thin enough. The only time it would become problematic is if you have several polymers that you\u2019re pressing together, like if it\u2019s a multi-layer film, and they\u2019re each something different (each layer), and you press that in all one big\u2026as one big particle, that\u2019s going to cause a problem; but there are ways and methods to actually separate out individual layers if you have a multi-layer film\u2014which is a whole \u2018nother webinar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0A couple more questions here\u2026 \u201cIf you have a metal particle, can you use the same method?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0Metal particles cannot be pressed out transparent, so usually metals cannot be run in transmission for FTIR. I would suggest metals being done on an SEM or an EDS.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0And another question here: \u201cWhat about plastics with high carbon black content?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s interesting. If you press them\u2014again, if it looks jet black\u2014you start larger, and you keep cutting smaller and smaller, and eventually you press it so thin, you\u2019re getting light through it. A kind of rule of thumb: if you get light through it, you can get a spectra. So it has to be thin enough where, yes, you might still be seeing tiny little carbon spheres in there, but there\u2019s enough of the clear area to where you would obtain a spectra.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Let\u2019s see here\u2026 \u201cDoes your class cover embedding of multiple laminated polymers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0We don\u2019t cover embedding, but we definitely have different techniques that we cover. We actually do hand-sectioning and cross-sectioning of the multi-layered films, or multi-laminate films; I don\u2019t know if that is specifically what you\u2019re interested in, but in the class, again, I would encourage you to bring your samples with because we do cover quite a bit of cross-sectioning in the class.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p><strong>CZ:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, okay then, I think that kind of wraps it up for the questions, and again, I\u2019d like to thank everbody for attending and hopefully we\u2019ll see you next time, next week, actually, for our webinar on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/techniques-obtaining-infrared-spectra\/\">Techniques for Obtaining Infrared Spectra<\/a>, with Andrea<br \/>\nChampagne and Mary Stellmack. Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p><strong>KW:<\/strong>\u00a0Thank you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Presenter:\u00a0Kristen D. Wiley Do you have a polymer sample that needs to be identified with FTIR? Using specialized microtools, you can prepare stubborn plastic particles for analysis following these few [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":956,"featured_media":47516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[156,1781],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1882],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Preparation of Polymer Samples for Microspectroscopy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We demonstrate a tips to prepare stubborn plastic particles for FTIR analysis, using a few specialized microtools.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/preparation-polymer-samples-microspectroscopy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Preparation of Polymer Samples for Microspectroscopy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We demonstrate a tips to prepare stubborn plastic particles for FTIR analysis, using a few specialized microtools.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/mm\/preparation-polymer-samples-microspectroscopy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"McCrone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-19T21:48:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-27T21:48:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mccrone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/featured_webinar-sampleprep.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"355\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"215\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristen D. 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