Premium
AUTOMATIC RECORDING OF ACTION SPECTRA OF PHOTOBIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC ANALYSES, FLUORESCENCE MEASUREMENTS AND RECORDING OF THE FIRST DERIVATIVE OF THE ABSORPTION CURVE IN ONE SIMPLE UNIT
Author(s) -
HALLDAL PER
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1969.tb07217.x
Subject(s) - absorption spectroscopy , absorption (acoustics) , action spectrum , fluorescence , spectral line , analytical chemistry (journal) , spectral sensitivity , chemistry , optics , sensitivity (control systems) , wavelength , physics , photochemistry , chromatography , astronomy , electronic engineering , engineering
— A compact, rugged and simply constructed instrument has been designed which measures action spectra of photosynthesis by delivering equal numbers of quanta between 400 and 720 nm to a sample placed upon the cathode of an oxygen sensor. The absorption spectrum is measured delivering equal numbers of quanta over the spectrum to a sample placed directly above a photoreceiver that has been adjusted in wavelength sensitivity to function as a quantum counter. All the details that are recorded by conventional high precision spectro‐photometers for samples with relatively broad absorption bands (e.g. chlorophyll, carotenoids, phycobilins and living material such as algal suspensions) are resolved by the instrument. Corrected excitation spectra of fluorescence are obtained with the same instrument. Likewise the first derivative of the absorption curve may be scanned. Such recordings amplify details in the absorption spectrum, and they are particularly useful in analyses of small changes in slope. The functions described above may be operated separately or combined. The instrument has a total weight of about 10 kg, and the dimensions are ca . 60 × 40 × 30 cm. It is constructed for use in field laboratories and on board research vessels, and also for courses in biology where the principles behind photobiological analyses are illustrated. It is possible that a device of this type could be used for investigations of photosynthesis on other planets.