The Nicolet iS50 features purpose-built accessories and integrated analytical software capabilities to provide a truly all-in-one materials analysis platform.
AZoM finds out more...
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AZoM:
The Thermo Scientific Nicolet iS50 FT-IR can be supplied as a stand-alone system with a range of accessories and upgrades available. Could you outline the main features of the standard model and explain what sort of upgrade packages are available? And what these offer the user?
Thermo Scientific:
In its base configuration, the Nicolet iS50 is a high-performance FT-IR spectrometer designed for operation in the mid-infrared region. There are many accessories available for the system that allow mid-IR spectra from a variety of solid, liquid and gaseous samples The Nicolet iS50 is a highly-configurable platform that allows many other techniques to be added including Near-IR, far-IR, Raman, GC-IR and TGA-IR. The built-in ATR allows users to access both the mid-IR and far-IR spectral ranges with the ease that is normally associated with simple Mid-IR-only systems. The Raman module fits in the spectrometer’s sample compartment, yielding a compact, cost-effective Raman system.
AZoM:
The iS50 FT-IR is the first in the world to feature ‘one-touch’ operation. What does this mean for your customers and what are the key benefits of this system?
Thermo Scientific:
The Nicolet iS50 is equipped with TouchPoints. These are buttons that are associated with each experiment module. All a user has to do is walk up to the instrument with their sample and press the button associated with the sampling module they wish to use. The system automatically configures itself and the user can initiate the experiment by pressing the TouchPoint. This minimizes the amount of back-and-forth operations between the PC and the spectrometer that the user would typically have to perform. A nice feature of the TouchPoints is that they are illuminated to show which module is active and they pulse when the system is switching between the modules. This visual feedback provides the user with confidence that the right things are going on ‘under the hood’.
AZoM:
The Nicolet iS50 can utilize GC-IR or TGA-IR capabilities to analyse complex mixtures and materials, using a new software ‘OMNIC Mercury’. What is different about the new software and how does it improve efficiency in the lab?
Thermo Scientific:
OMNIC Mercury software accomplished two tasks: firstly to acquire data from GC-IR or TGA-IR experiments and secondly to analyze that data. It is in this second task that OMNIC Mercury is most novel. The software will automatically resolve and identify the individual components that are present in the GC-IR or TGA-IR traces based on their infrared spectra, using many thousands of calculations. In GC-IR, this means that even the smallest peak is not overlooked. TGA-IR traces are notoriously complex as several components may be evolved from the TGA at the same temperature (time). The OMNIC Mercury software can automatically determine the identities of the individual components in these complex mixtures without the need for time-consuming manual and subjective data manipulation.
AZoM:
The iS50 comes standard with a dual-purpose fibre-optic and integrating sphere module. What is this and what does it offer the user?
Thermo Scientific:
This module allows users to measure spectra from samples in the near-infrared region. Near-infrared is a very useful technique for quantitative and qualitative analysis of bulk liquid and solid samples due to the ease with which spectra can be obtained. The fiber-optic capability allows the user to couple a probe to the spectrometer and measure a sample remotely. The sample may be in a bag, a barrel or a beaker, for example. Depending on the probe, liquids or solids can be measured. The integrating sphere is used for the measurement of solids. Typically a powder sample in a glass vial is placed directly on the sphere. When equipped with the optional spinner, heterogeneous samples can be measured without the need for sample averaging through the measurement of many samples.
AZoM:
When equipped with the automatic beamsplitter exchanger the system offers the user the opportunity to access a range of analytical techniques. What are they and how do you configure the instrument to carry out these analyses?
Thermo Scientific:
To change spectral ranges in an FTIR spectrometer typically requires the change of three components; the source, beamsplitter and detector. While different sources and detectors can be selected simply by flipping mirrors, changing the beamsplitter is more challenging as it requires an optically-precise component to be physically exchanged within the system. By automating the selection of source, detector and beamsplitter, the user can access the multiple spectral ranges of the Nicolet iS50 through software or simply by pressing one of the Touch Point buttons on the spectrometer.
Key examples of the techniques that can be so accessed include:
- Mid-infrared, for the identification of organic materials
- Far-infrared; for the identification of inorganic materials
- Near-infrared; for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of bulk organic materials
- Raman; for the identification of organic and inorganic materials
The automation and architecture of the system allows spectra to be obtained from all of the above techniques in around ten minutes.
AZoM:
The iS50 has been designed to maximise lab efficiency and speed up analysis without compromising on quality while eliminating the possibility of operational errors. What specific features of the system have been introduced to ensure this is the case?
Thermo Scientific:
The ability to access many experimental techniques without needing to manually exchange internal system components or change sampling accessories eliminates the possibility of error associated with manual operations. If a user does need to change an accessory it is automatically recognized and its performance verified by the system. Experimental parameters and workflows can be assigned to the Touch Points that are associated with the various sampling modules. Thus, the same operation happens every time that module is used. And finally, for regulated environments, the optional ValPro validation package assures the system’s performance complies with relevant regulatory requirements.
AZoM:
Who do you envisage will be the main users of this instrument?
Thermo Scientific:
Any chemist or materials scientist needing to determine the composition of materials is a potential user of the Nicolet iS50. FT-IR is a ubiquitous technique for the identification of organic materials. However scientists can gain deeper insight into their samples by expanding the spectral range to the far IR, near IR, and by adding Raman to probe different functional groups or using hyphenated techniques such as TGA-IR and GC-IR to resolve complex samples. These scientists who want to go beyond the mid-infrared will gain the most from the Nicolet iS50.
AZoM:
The system has been designed for multiple applications but in what industry do you see the iS50 performing best?
Thermo Scientific:
The Nicolet iS50 will perform well in all industries that rely on FT-IR; Polymer, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Forensic Science. The users who will most value its unique capabilities are those working to understand the composition of complex samples where the mid-infrared spectrum provides only part of the picture. Plastics, paints and rubbers are great examples of this. Mid-IR gives information about the base polymer and plasticizers whereas far-IR and Raman provide information about the pigments and fillers. TGA-IR can then be used to determine formulation differences between various grades of plastics and rubbers. The more complex the challenge, the more value the Nicolet iS50 provides.
Thanks to Thermo Scientific for taking the time to answer our questions.
For more information on the Thermo Scientific Nicolet iS50 FT-IR or Thermo Scientific’s full range of products and services please visit their website.