2.2. Equipment and instrumentation
Homogeneity of the mixtures and finely ground powdered
samples were attained using a ball grinder, Wig-L-Bug Model 30
(International Crystal Laboratories, Garfield, NJ). Infrared spectra
were collected with a Thermo Nicolet 380 FTIR, equipped with
Smart iTR Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) diamond Dia3525
crystal, 40 scans, with background correction between each sample.
Thermo Scientific Omnic software (version 8.1) was used to
collect and correct ATR spectra which were subsequently analyzed
by the companion software, TQ Analyst (version 7.1.0.32), for peak
area integrations.