Appendix 5: Operation of the Shimadzu spectrophotometers
Precautions:
- Clean up spills in the sample compartment immediately.
- Keep spectrophotometer vents (on sides of instrument) free of any obstructions.
- Use clean, dry hands on the keypads.
- Do not place anything on top of the spectrophotometer.
Spectrophotometer setup
- Remove dust cover from instrument and place in a clean, out of the way area.
- Remove any cuvettes from the sample and reference beams.
- Turn the POWER to ON (left side of instrument). Allow 15 min. for warm-up.
- After initialization, the MAIN MENU will be displayed.
Fixed wavelength measurements
- Press [1] from MAIN MENU to enter Photometric mode
- Select ABS or %T by pressing the [F1] key
- Press the [GOTO WL] key, enter the desired wavelength, and press [ENTER]
- Insert a sample blank into both the front and back slots and press the [AUTO ZERO] key. Be sure to wait until the machine beeps – it takes a minute.
- Insert an unknown sample into the front slot and press [START] to read the sample absorbance (%transmittance) on the digital display.
Single Scan
- Set up the spectrophotometer as described in 1 above. Then:
- Enter the Spectrum mode from the MAIN MENU.
- Select the MODE (ABS, %T) by pressing [1].
- Select the scan speed:
- Press [4]
- Choose a speed (1-5)
- Press [ENTER]
- Enter wavelength range:
- Press [2]
- Enter upper limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Enter lower limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Set the (ABS, %T) range:
- Press [3]
- Enter upper limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Enter lower limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Perform a background correction
- Place the appropriate blank and reference samples in position.
- Press the [F1] key to perform a baseline correction. This may take a few minutes depending upon settings.
- Set the sample and reference cells in place.
- Press the [START] key to start scan.
Time Drive
- Set up the spectrophotometer as described in 1 above. Then:
- Enter the Time Scan mode from the MAIN MENU
- Select the MODE (ABS, %T) by pressing [1].
- Enter the desired wavelength by pressing the [GOTO WL] key, entering the wavelength, and pressing [ENTER].
- Set the (ABS, %T) range:
- Press [3]
- Enter upper limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Enter lower limit
- Press [ENTER]
- Set the time scale (sec, min) by pressing [4]
- Set the measurement time by pressing [2]. The measurement interval will automatically be set relative to the length of measurement chosen.
- Press the [START] key to start measurement.
Shutting down
- Turn the spectrophotometer POWER to OFF.
- Replace dust cover on spectrophotometer and make sure all electronics and wires are covered.