Attenuated Total Reflection Design for in Situ FT-IR Spectroelectrochemical Studies

A versatile spectroelectrochemical apparatus is introduced to study the changes in IR spectra of organic and inorganic compounds upon oxidation or reduction. The design is based on an attenuated total reflection device, which permits the study of a wide spectral range of 16 700 (600 nm)-250 cm-1, with a small opaque region of 2250-1900 cm-1. In addition, an IR data collection protocol is introduced to deal with electrochemically nonreversible background signals. This method is tested with ferrocene in acetonitrile; concentrations as low as 1 mM produce results that agree with those in the literature.