ATR FTIR spectroscopy for in situ measurement of supersaturation

The current contribution establishes the technical feasibility of Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for the in situ measurement of supersaturation in crystallization processes. The approach was inspired by recent advancements in ATR spectroscopy by way of various light transfer systems for remote sensing and by the increasing availability of ATR configurations well suited for remote, in situ measurements. The feasibility of the technique was investigated using a DIPPER-210(R) immersion probe manufactured by Axiom Analytical, Inc. Initial experiments conducted using aqueous maleic acid proved that ATR FTIR spectroscopy can be successfully employed to measure supersaturation, solubility and the metastable limit, in situ, with sufficient accuracy and precision.