REDUCING RADIATION-DAMAGE IN RAMAN-SPECTROSCOPY OF POWDERED MATERIALS

The design of a cryogenically cooled Raman cell for powdered catalyst materials is presented. The cell utilizes a thin tungsten grid with un iform, closely spaced holes to efficiently reduce thermal heating of p owdered samples during laser excitation. The performance of the cell w as demonstrated by monitoring the dehydration of a WQ(x)/ZrO2 catalyst and the thermal degradation of Os-3(CO)(12)/SiO2 with increasing lase r power. This design will be useful for laser Raman studies of powdere d materials in reactor and adsorption cells where sample rotation for reducing radiation damage by heating is impractical.