Course Information
Course Title: Basic Theory, Instrumentation and Applications of Vibrational Spectroscopy (Raman, Mid-Infrared and Near-Infrared) in Materials Science
Categories: 1 - Chemometrics
2 - Environmental Analysis
3 - Pharmaceutical Sciences
4 - Polymers
5 - Quality/Regulatory/Compliance
6 - Raman Spectroscopy
7 - Infrared/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
Instructor(s): Heinz Siesler Course Number: 18
Affiliation: University of Duisburg-Essen
Course Date: 03/14/2012 - Wednesday Course Length: 2 Day Course
Start Time: 08:30 AM End Time: 05:00 PM
Course Date 2: 03/15/2012 - Thursday    
Start Time: 08:30 AM End Time: 05:00 PM
Fee: $900 ($1300 after 2/13/12) Textbook Fee:

Course Description
The course will give an overview on the theoretical principles and state-of-the-art instrumentation (including imaging and the new generation of hand-held spectrometers) of the vibrational spectroscopic techniques (Raman, mid-infrared and near-infrared spectroscopy) and it will provide a broad spectrum of application examples with reference to the chemical and physical analysis of solid, liquid and gaseous materials. Sample preparation and possible artifacts originating thereof will be discussed in detail and qualitative and quantitative analysis will be treated in terms of univariate as well as multivariate, chemometric evaluation procedures. Real-life applications from the chemical, pharmaceutical, polymer and food industry will illustrate the relevance of these spectroscopic techniques for materials research, quality control and reaction monitoring and will facilitate their implementation as industrial routine tools.

Target Audience
Chemists, physicists, chemical engineers (also graduate students in these disciplines) and laboratory technicians working in the field of chemical, pharmaceutical and polymer research, quality assurance and process control will benefit from this course.

Course Outline
Key Topics:  Introduction to the basic theory, interpretation and instrumentation of Raman, mid-infrared and near-infrared spectro-scopy. Comparison of their strengths and weaknesses.  The sample preparation of solids, liquids and gases (including possible pitfalls and artifacts)  Qualitative and quantitative analysis (univariate and multivariate chemometric procedures).  Condensed overview on qualitative and quantitative chemometric evaluation techniques (PCA, PCR, PLS) including data pretreatments.  Special instrumental techniques: reflection (attenuated total reflection (ATR), diffuse reflection, reflection absorption); photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS); polarization measurements, step-scan spectroscopy, resonance-Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman and IR spectroscopy (SERS/SEIRS).  Application of Raman, mid-infrared and near-infrared spectroscopy to industrial chemical quality/process control (covering pharmaceutical drug formulations (including the discussion of polymorphism), poly-mers, composites, polymer blends, surfaces and additives as well as examples from food industry) and environmental analysis  Mid-/near-infrared and Raman spectroscopic analysis of the state of order and orientation in polymers.  Application of time-resolved mid-/near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy for reaction-monitoring and for the study of the influence of external perturbations (stress, pressure, temperature, etc.) on the investigated system  Raman, mid-/near-infrared imaging spectroscopy (primarily for polymer and pharmaceutical applications), limitations in lateral resolution and possible artifacts.  Coupling of vibrational spectroscopy with chromatographic techniques (GC, HPLC), thermal analysis (TGA, DTA) and with mechanical measurements of polymers (rheo-optics). Instrumentation, performance and applications of hand-held spectrometers.  During the breaks and at the end of both days individual problems of the participants can be discussed. 

Course Instructor's Biography
Prof. Dr. Heinz W. Siesler is a Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, since 1987. His main research interests focus on the application of vibrational spectroscopy to chemical and polymer research, analysis and quality control. He has written more than 200 publications (including three monographs) in this field of research and presented more than 250 lectures worldwide. He received the 1994 EAS Award, the 2000 Tomas Hirschfeld Award and the 2003 Buechi Award in near-infrared spectroscopy. Prior to his present academic position he gained extensive industrial experience as section head in molecular spectroscopy and thermal analysis from 1974 to 1987 in the Corporate R&D Department of Bayer AG, Germany. He also worked as lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (1972-1974) and as post-doc with Prof. Dr. D. O. Hummel at the University of Cologne, Germany, after receiving his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Vienna, Austria, in 1970. Heinz Siesler is teaching one-/two-day short courses on vibrational spectroscopy since 1989 in Europe, Japan and USA (EAS, PITTCON).