ABSTRACT
Infrared (IR) and Raman are both well established as methods of vibrational spectroscopy. Both have been used for decades as tools for the identification and characterization of polymeric materials; in fact, the requirement for a method of analysis synthetic polymers was the basis for the original development of analytical infrared instrumentation during World War II. It is assumed that the reader has a general understanding of analytical chemistry, and a basic understanding of the principles of spectroscopy. A general overview of vibrational spectroscopy is provided in Sec. 5 for those unfamiliar with the infrared and Raman techniques.
