A Comprehensive Study of Albumin Solutions in the Extended Terahertz Frequency Range

Sensitivity of the THz frequency range to the solutions of biomolecules originates from the decrease of absorption and dispersion of water in its bound state. Correct measurement and interpretation of the THz spectra of water-containing samples is still a challenging task because the reliable relaxation model for such spectra is not well established. The transmission and the attenuated total internal reflection geometries data were combined for precise analysis of the spectra of the aqueous solutions of bovine serum albumin within the range 0.05–3.2 THz. We compare the concentration dependencies of the dielectric function at “low,” “middle,” and “high” frequency and do not confirm an anomalous increase in absorption for concentrations below 17 mg/mL published by other teams.