Rotating samples in FT-RAMAN spectrometers.

It is customary to rotate samples in Raman spectroscopy to avoid absorption or sample heating. In FT-Raman experiments the rotation is always shown (typically 30-60 rpm) because higher speeds are thought to generate noise in the spectra. In this article we show that more rapid rotation is possible. A tablet containing maleic acid and one made up of sub-millimetre silica particles with metoprolol succinate as active ingredient were rotated at different speeds, up to 6760 rpm. The FT-Raman spectra were recorded and studied. We conclude that it is perfectly acceptable to rotate samples up to 1500 rpm.

The use of reference materials in quantitative analyses based on FT-Raman spectroscopy.

The reliability with which an external reference sample can be used to standardise the intensities of Raman scattering spectra is assessed. By comparing the ratios of single band intensities of Raman scatter in a two component liquid mixture with those between the mixture and an external standard it is shown that the latter is more than adequate for most quantitative Raman analysis. Coefficients of variance in repeated experiments on the same sample are approximately 1%, when comparing single band heights on spectra recorded with modest laser powers over 2 min. When using the whole spectrum, these coefficients are significantly lower.