Cards mount vertically in the universal slide mount in any spectrophotometer. The cards have a clear aperture of 19mm and space is provided to write on the card to identify the date of the analysis, the sample and the name of the analyst. Polyethylene cards exhibit absorbance bands in the 4400 to 400 cm^-1 spectral range.

Disposable polyethylene IR sample cards are mainly used for the analysis of soluble compounds and are used as an alternative to KBr pellets and mineral oil mulls.