Instrumental chemistry

Instrumental analysis is a field of analytical chemistry that investigates analytes using scientific instruments.

Spectroscopy measures the interaction of the molecules with electromagnetic radiation. Spectroscopy consists of many different applications such as atomic absorption spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, photoemission spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and circular dichroism spectroscopy.

Methods of nuclear spectroscopy use properties of a nucleus to probe a material's properties, especially the material's local structure. Common methods include nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Mössbauer spectroscopy (MBS), and perturbed angular correlation (PAC).

Mass spectrometry measures mass-to-charge ratio of molecules using electric and magnetic fields. There are several ionization methods: electron ionization, chemical ionization, electrospray, fast atom bombardment, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, and others. Also, mass spectrometry is categorized by approaches of mass analyzers: magnetic-sector, quadrupole mass analyzer, quadrupole ion trap, time-of-flight, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance, and so on.

Crystallography is a technique that characterizes the chemical structure of materials at the atomic level by analyzing the diffraction patterns of electromagnetic radiation or particles that have been deflected by atoms in the material. X-rays are most commonly used. From the raw data, the relative placement of atoms in space may be determined.

Electroanalytical methods measure the electric potential in volts and/or the electric current in amps in an electrochemical cell containing the analyte. These methods can be categorized according to which aspects of the cell are controlled and which are measured. The three main categories are potentiometry (the difference in electrode potentials is measured), coulometry (the cell's current is measured over time), and voltammetry (the cell's current is measured while actively altering the cell's potential).

Calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis measure the interaction of a material and heat.

Separation processes are used to decrease the complexity of material mixtures. Chromatography and electrophoresis are representative of this field.