Week 12: FTIR machine!!

 Happy holiday weekend!

This week, the team and I utilized the FTIR machine to analyze our glass filters. The machine uses nitrogen liquid to maintain a cooled temperature reading, permitting a more accurate analysis. I was told the apparatus is so sensitive that body heat released by people in the lab can skew the results.  The FTIR machine uses the reflective setting to read microplastics, and the machine will analyze anything residing in the red box. 

I was able to analyze a total of 6 microplastics on my unstained filter side. We will use the remaining weeks of this Fall semester to research the chemical component matches presented in the FTIR machine and prepare for the final research paper!

I attached a photo of what the FTIR machine monitor presented. :) The table attached shows what the FTIR machine found to match (in percentages) inside the red box (first image attached).