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2. Solids:
Preparation of Samples
1. Liquids:
- A drop of the pure (neat) liquid is squeezed between
two salt plates (eg: KBr, NaCl) to give a layer that has
thickness 0.01mm or less
- Neat liquid is a pure liquid that do not contain any
solvent or water
- This method is applied when the amount of liquid is
small or when a suitable solvent is unavailable
- A spectrum determined by this method is called “neat
spectrum”
- Organic compounds analysed by this method must be
free of water
There are 3 common methods for preparing solid samples:
i) KBr pallet:
- The finely ground solid sample is mixed KBr. The mixture
is pressed under high pressure (10,000 – 15,000 psi) in
special die to form a pellet
- Disadvantage: KBr absorbs water, thus interferes the
spectrum obtained
ii) Nujol mull:
- Involves grinding the compound with mineral oil (Nujol) to
create a suspension of finely round sample in mineral oil
and then put in between salt plates
- Disadvantage: The mineral oil obscures band that may be
present in the analyzed compound

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iii) Organic compound sample in solvent:

- Most commonly used solvent in this method is CCl4
- May also obscure the spectrum by bands in the
solvent