Infrared spectroscopy can be used to obtain the rotational and vibrational bond energies associated with molecular species, which can be used in several manners, including the identification of bulk materials, adsorbed species, and gas phase species.

Among all the characterization techniques available to the catalysis researcher, the in-situ techniques provide the most powerful tools.  A technique which allows characterization of catalysts and/or adsorbed species under reaction conditions is Diffuse Reflectance Infra-red Fourier Transform Spectroscopy (DRIFTS).  DRIFTS is a surface sensitive technique for the analysis of trace quantities of materials adsorbed on the surface of a solid sample.

The Nicolet 6700 FT-IR spectrometer utilizes gold coated, pinned-in-place optics that allow for high optical throughput.  The optics allow for resolution of 0.125 cm^-1. The instrument has a Ge-on-KBr beamsplitter and is equipped with high sensitivity liquid N₂ cooled MCT detector, as well as, a photoacoustic detector.

Accessories include:

- Dual temperature controlled environmental chambers for in-situ diffuse reflectance (DRIFTS) studies

- A solid transmission cell

- A liquid transmission cell with heating capacity

- A horizontal, multi-bounce ATR sampling trough with a ZnSe crystal and a volatile liquids cover

- A heated gas transmission cell with 2 m pathlength and ZnSe windows for fast and accurate IR analysis and quantification of gas streams

- Portable mass spectrometer available for simultaneous examination of surface reaction pathways and analysis of gas phase products formed

Ethanol TPD over 10%Co-ZrO₂ using DRIFTS (above) and mass spectrometry (right)