Chemically sensitive parallel analysis of combinatorial catalyst libraries

This study demonstrates how Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIR) can be employed as a powerful spectroscopic tool for the parallel investigation of multiple member heterogeneous catalyst systems. FTIR imaging combines the chemical specificity and high sensitivity of infrared spectroscopy with the ability to rapidly analyze multiple samples simultaneously. A new implementation, using a rapid-scan FTIR spectrometer instead of a step-scan FTIR spectrometer, allows much improved data collection times without sacrificing data quality. Using CO adsorption and CO oxidation as model systems, it was established that FTIR imaging is very well suited to high-throughput parallel analysis of adsorbates and reaction products from supported catalyst libraries. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.