Abstract

Infrared spectroscopy studies of the cure chemistry, state of cure, and surface bloom on rubber materials have always been limited by the presence of carbon black in samples. One of the modern methods for recording infrared spectra of solid samples is photoacoustic detection Fourier transform spectroscopy. It has been demonstrated in the past that surface-segregated species can be identified with this technique, but the results are complicated by the presence of carbon black, which limits the optical depth. As for the study of bulk chemistry, photoacoustic detection does not require that the sample be infrared transparent, and the method can be used with samples containing as much as a 15 wt % carbon. At loadings higher than 30 wt %, the material becomes a total absorber and can be used to record an instrument background spectrum.

Photoacoustic spectroscopy with light scattering samples

R. Tilgner
Appl. Opt. 20(21) 3780-3786 (1981)

Photoacoustic spectroscopy with condensed samples

John F. McClelland and Richard N. Kniseley
Appl. Opt. 15(11) 2658-2663 (1976)

Viscosity dependence of optical limiting in carbon black suspensions

Florencio E. Hernández, William Shensky, Ion Cohanoschi, David J. Hagan, and Eric W. Van Stryland
Appl. Opt. 41(6) 1103-1107 (2002)

Step-scan differential Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (DFTIR-PAS): a spectral deconvolution method for weak absorber detection in the presence of strongly overlapping background absorptions

Lixian Liu, Andreas Mandelis, Huiting Huan, and Kirk H. Michaelian
Opt. Lett. 42(7) 1424-1427 (2017)

Quantitative Fourier transform IR photoacoustic spectroscopy of condensed phases

Y. C. Teng and B. S. H. Royce
Appl. Opt. 21(1) 77-80 (1982)