In my diploma thesis, I used ATR-FTIR analysis to study the bones of selected wild animals. Bones are composite materials composed of organic (mainly collagen) and inorganic (mainly apatite) compounds. From the absorption spectra obtained in the FTIR analysis of a sample, the presence of certain functional groups can be inferred. By comparing the height of the absorption bands of selected functional groups, I looked for correlations between them and calculated the crystallinity index of apatite. Using TG analysis, I determined the moisture content and organic matter content of the bone core samples and estimated the carbonate content. The residual samples after thermal analysis were evaluated by ATR-FTIR analysis and their degree of crystallinity was compared with that of the base samples. The results showed that ATR-FTIR analysis can play an important role, especially in the first phase of research, when we want to select from among all the samples adequately preserved bone samples for further, more time and cost consuming analyses.
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