best practices in spectrophotometric measurement

Trust but always Verify:Best practices in spectrophotometric measurement

L S Theobald Lecture15th May 2003

A journey in analytical science

Sourced in classical analysis (ABC)Inspired by qualitative analysisProgressed via colorimetryMatured in spectrophotometryContinued quest for correctness and traceability in spectroscopic measurements

Sourced in classical analysis

ICI General Chemicals DivisionWidnes 1962-1967‘Techniques Course’ Widnes Tech.12 months before you were ‘acceptable’ within the analytical laboratoryClassical gravimetric and volumetric analysis (Over 150 procedures against ‘unknown’ samples from Vogel 3rd

Edition)Trained analyst

Traceability in classical analysisGravimetric analysis

Traceable massesMethod of swings on 2 pan balancesSubstitutionBuoyancy correction

Volumetric analysisCalibration of pipettesCalibration of burettes with drainage correctionCalibration of volumetric flasks

Chemical Analysis –The Working ToolsAnalytical Chemists’ Committee of ICI2nd Edition 1961

Traceability in volumetric analysis

Qualitative analysis

The flame test; low cost atomic emission (Flame and bead tests data have been restored in the 84th Edition, 2003-2004, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics)Calibration of spectroscopes

‘Raies Ultimes’Dispersion curves

Bunsen spectroscope

The eye as a detector

Approximate wavelength range (nm)

Colour of reflected light

Colour of absorbed light

400-456465-482482-487487-493493-498498-530530-559559-571571-576576-580580-587587-597597-617617-780

VioletBlueGreenish-blueBlue-greenBluish-greenGreenYellowish-greenYellow-greenGreenish-yellowYellowYellowish-orangeOrangeReddish-orangeRed

Yellow-greenYellowOrangeRed-orangeRedRed-purpleReddish-purplePurpleVioletBlueBlueGreenish-blueBlue-greenBlue-green

Absorptiometry; the eye as a detector

Nessler tubesIron by thioglycollic acidStandard seriesVisual interpolation

Nessleriser Glass standards‘Permanent’ standardTraceable (?)Samples only

Lovibond tintometer

Nessleriser standards

Absorptiometry; the photocell as a

detector

Hilger Spekker absorptiometerMeasurement of transmittanceCalibration curves and the problem of absorbanceFilter selection

MeasurementBand widthStray light

Hilger Spekker Absorptiometer

Hilger Spekker AbsorptiometerLight from lamp G illuminates 2 photocells A & O via optical nullF & H are heat absorbing filtersM is the wavelength filterI is the variable windowThe sample is in the cell L

Band-pass filters for filter photometers

The chromogenic reagent yields an orange solution (D)

Filter A will be satisfactory

Filters B & C transmit considerable radiation where the solution has little absorption

Loughborough University of Technology

1967 to 1972The Photoelectric Spectrometry Group BulletinBasic dyes as chromogenic reagentsElwell Ward 1971 Society for Analytical Chemistry

Hilger & Watts Uvispeck

Unicam SP 600

Basics of spectrophotometry

Theoretical aspectsNuts & bolts Confidence in the numbers!J R Edisbury (1966)‘Practical hints on absorption spectrometry 200 -800mμ’

Beer Lambert Law Assumptions

The radiation is perfectly monochromaticThere are no uncompensated losses due to scattering or reflectionThe radiation beam strikes the cuvette at normal incidenceThere are no molecular interactions between the absorber and other molecules in solutionThe temperature remains constant

Two More Assumptions

The instrument works properlyThe person operating it is competent

Beer’s Law and Instrument Linearity

The voltage generated by the detector is a function of the power of the incident radiation falling on it; Beer's law

or log

Combining these two equations we get (

II I e A cbI

V I I e

⎛ ⎞= = =⎜ ⎟⎝ ⎠

)and hence the measured absorbance is

and therefore a proportional change in c or b only confirms that is constant and does not confirm unity

cb cboI e

AV cbV

ε β β εβ

− −=

⎛ ⎞ =⎜ ⎟⎝ ⎠

Nuts and bolts

Know your instrumentImportance of optical design

Pye Unicam SP500

Double beam recording design

HP 8450 diode array spectrometer

The rise of spectrophotometry

Photoelectric Spectrometry Group1948Beckman model DU & Unicam SP 500UVSG50th anniversary in 1998

UVSG monographs

1. Standards in Absorption SpectrometryEd. C. Burgess & A. Knowles, 1981

2. Standards in Fluorescence SpectrometryEd. J. N. Miller, 1981

3. Practical Absorption SpectrometryEd. A. Knowles & C. Burgess 1984

4. UV Spectroscopy; Techniques, instrumentation, data handlingEd. B.J. Clark, T. Frost & M.A. Russell, 1993

5. Standards and Best Practice in Absorption SpectrometryEd. C. Burgess & T. Frost, 1999

UVSG/CORM conferences

1. Advances in Standards and Methodology in SpectrophotometryEd. C. Burgess & K.D. Mielenz, 1987

2. Spectrophotometry, Luminescence and Colour;Science and ComplianceEd. C. Burgess & D.G. Jones, 1995

3. Optical Spectrometry: Applications and Instrumentation into the 21st Century1998

Spectrophotometry in a regulated environment

Glaxo Laboratories Ltd 1974Monitoring the performance of UV-visible spectrophotometers;UV Spectrometry Group Bulletin 5 77, 1997

Control chartsStandards for accuracy and precision

Ho(III) & Sm(III)Thompson’s solutionSap Green solutions

Ho(III) as a wavelength standard

Qualification and calibration of

spectrophotometers

Basis for measurementWavelength scale

Operational rangeAccuracy & precision

Photometric scaleOperational rangeAccuracy & precision (Linearity)Noise and drift

ResolutionStray light

Traceable standards

Starna RM-RE

Long term photometric stability

How reliable is the instrument over its working life?How stable is the standard?How stable is the standardising laboratory?

HP 8450 life time photometric accuracy

• NPL calibratedneutral density filter

• 546nm checked daily• Nine years

(110 months) • 2161 data points• Monthly averages• 95% CLs

Potassium dichromate

• 2 maxima/minimapairs

• One close to thevisible

• One in ‘bomb alley’ of UV region

• Easy to prepare(60mg in 0.005Msulphuric acid)

HP 8450 photometric accuracy

• acid dichromate• Four years

(47 months) • Duplicates• Satisfactory

performance• Reading slightly low at

350nm• No correlation max/min

(47 months) • Duplicates• Less satisfactory

performance in UV• Correlation max/min

(47 months) • Duplicates• Maxima to maxima• No correlation

Technology transfer standards

StableNon hazardousUV & Visible rangeEasy to use

Sap Green 1979

Sap Green Linearity

Comparison of scanning and DAS spectrophotometers 1990

7 DAS (HP8450 & HP8452)6 Scanning instruments (PE Lambda 5, 6 and 15)All labs had the ‘same’ solution of Sap Green

Collaborative trials with Sap Green

Spectrophotometric methods

The instrument is OK but what about the method?

Optimum conditionsBest precisionBest accuracy

Precision and noise

0.4343log

however is a function of

s sRSDc T Ts T

The relative standard deviation of concentration

Three main sources;1. Electronics, which is a constant (Johnson Noise)

2. Detector, photon statistics (Shot noise)

3. Cuvette positioning errors and source flicker

1Ts k=

22Ts k T T= +

3Ts k T=

Precision and noise

Relative errors;HP 8450 diode array spectrometer

Accurate values of absorbance

Setting standard valuesMinimising biasLess out of specification resultsForgotten lessons

Ringbom-Ayres plotsVFG method

Vandenbelt, Forsyth and GarrettInd. Eng. Chem. (Analytical Edition) 1945

• variation of molar extinction coefficient with absorbance

• Impact on standard values

• Beckman DU working absorbance range 0.5 to 1.9 for broad bands

VFG plot

In conclusion

Spectrophotometry is alive if not wellStandards are becoming more importantTrust your instruments and your methods BUT always verifyThe journey continues…

NIR wavelength for the future?

best practices in spectrophotometric measurement

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