Natural history specimen analysis using micro FT-IR attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy

A combination of micro Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) attenuated total reflectance (ATR) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provided a complete analysis of the interaction between nematode cuticle structure and preservation fluids. Spectroscopic results were successfully correlated with TEM results. While fresh nematode cuticle yielded uniform spectra, damaged cuticles were characterised by large spectrum to spectrum variations in the 1000–1100 cm −1 region. An important outcome of this investigation was the demonstrated potential of micro FT-IR ATR as a technique for the analysis of challenging natural history samples.