Showing papers by "Madhavi Z. Martin published in 2003"

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for the environmental determination of total carbon and nitrogen in soils.

Abstract: Soils from various sites have been analyzed with the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technique for total elemental determination of carbon and nitrogen. Results from LIBS have been correlated to a standard laboratory-based technique (sample combustion), and strong linear correlations were obtained for determination of carbon concentrations. The LIBS technique was used on soils before and after acid washing, and the technique appears to be useful for the determination of both organic and inorganic soil carbon. The LIBS technique has the potential to be packaged into a field-deployable instrument.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy used to detect palladium and silver metal dispersed in bacterial cellulose membranes.

Abstract: The technique of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been used for the first time to our knowledge for the identification of metals such as palladium and silver that were dispersed in bacterial cellulose membranes These results for palladium-dispersed films have been correlated to a calibration curve obtained by use of atomic absorption spectroscopy and were found to be in good agreement The experiments were conducted by use of wet and dry metal-doped membranes The metal peaks obtained with a dry membrane are greater than five times higher in signal-to-background ratio than when metals are detected by a hydrated membrane The advantage of this laser-based technique is that minimal sample handling and sample preparation are needed and measurements are completed in real time (a few seconds) Hence this technique can be used for the detection of metals in dry membranes that would be used in the construction of electrode assemblies