Goran Zgrablić, Davor Čapeta, Ana Senkić, and Mario Rakić, together with their colleagues from the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Ivan Brekalo and Krunoslav Užarević, have made significant progress in the field of mechanochemistry by developing an innovative device for real-time monitoring of chemical reactions. The device is a highly sensitive Raman spectrometer (mcRS) that offers several advantages over existing commercial solutions.
What makes mcRS special? It provides 30% better spectral resolution and five times better time resolution, while its cost is five times lower than that of commercial systems. The authors are particularly proud of the unique functionality of their device—it enables simultaneous monitoring of sample rheology, which is crucial for many mechanochemical reactions.
The device was entirely designed, built, and tested in the laboratories of the Institute of Physics. The effectiveness of mcRS was demonstrated by monitoring the reaction between zinc oxide (ZnO) and imidazole under neat grinding (NG) and liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) conditions. The system allowed differentiation between two zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) products based on subtle differences in high-frequency Raman modes.
A paper detailing the development and application of this device has been published in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics DOI: 10.1039/D4CP04757E
With this work, scientists at the Institute of Physics further strengthen their position as leaders in developing innovative technologies for materials research.
