On recording the true absorption spectrum and the scattering spectrum of aturbid sample: application to cell suspensions of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis
Mn. Merzlyak et Kr. Naqvi, On recording the true absorption spectrum and the scattering spectrum of aturbid sample: application to cell suspensions of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis, J PHOTOCH B, 58(2-3), 2000, pp. 123-129
Citations number
18
Categorie Soggetti
Biochemistry & Biophysics
Journal title
JOURNAL OF PHOTOCHEMISTRY AND PHOTOBIOLOGY B-BIOLOGY
An integrating sphere is often used for recording the absorption spectrum o
f a turbid sample. If the sample is placed inside the sphere, scattering lo
sses are eliminated, but the recorded spectrum suffers from other distortio
ns. These distortions can be avoided by positioning the sample outside the
sphere; but, since some of the scattered light escapes the detector, the re
corded spectrum suffers from residual scattering losses. A method proposed
by Latimer and Eubanks more than 30 years ago (Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 98 (
1962) 274), is put to a quantitative examination, which has shown that one
can obtain, by recording two spectra at different distances from the sphere
, not only the true absorption spectrum but also the scattering spectra of
the sample. Conditions for the validity of the basic assumption underlying
the method are investigated by examining suspensions containing various con
centrations of cells of the cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis, and it is s
hown that the calculated absorbance is proportional to the number density o
f the cells. The application of the method for quantitative spectrophotomet
ric analysis of pigments in cell suspensions is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevie
r Science B.V. All rights reserved.