The detection and measurement of gas concentrations using the characteristic optical absorption of the gas species is important for both understanding and monitoring a variety of phenomena from industrial processes to environmental change. This study reviews the field, covering several individual gas detection techniques including non-dispersive infrared, spectrophotometry, tunable diode laser spectroscopy and photoacoustic spectroscopy. We present the basis for each technique, recent developments in methods and performance limitations. The technology available to support this field, in terms of key components such as light sources and gas cells, has advanced rapidly in recent years and we discuss these new developments. Finally, we present a performance comparison of different techniques, taking data reported over the preceding decade, and draw conclusions from this benchmarking.

/pdf/optical-gas-sensing-a-review-4uaf589xiq.pdf

Optical gas sensing: a review

Physico-chemical properties and microbial responses in biochar-amended soils: Mechanisms and future directions

https://orbilu.uni.lu/bitstream/10993/21149/1/Advantages%20and%20challenges%20of%20microfluidic%20cell%20culture%20in%20polydimethylsiloxane%20devices.pdf

Advantages and challenges of microfluidic cell culture in polydimethylsiloxane devices.

Soil mineral depletion is a major issue due mainly to soil erosion and nutrient leaching. The addition of biochar is a solution because biochar has been shown to improve soil fertility, to promote plant growth, to increase crop yield, and to reduce contaminations. We review here biochar potential to improve soil fertility. The main properties of biochar are the following: high surface area with many functional groups, high nutrient content, and slow-release fertilizer. We discuss the influence of feedstock, pyrolysis temperature, pH, application rates, and soil types. We review the mechanisms ruling the adsorption of nutrients by biochar.

/pdf/biochar-to-improve-soil-fertility-a-review-okww45g9y9.pdf

Biochar to improve soil fertility. A review

Effects and mechanisms of biochar-microbe interactions in soil improvement and pollution remediation: A review.

The application of a new method of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to the analysis of burned bone

Biochar—charcoal used to amend land and sequester carbon—is attracting considerable interest. Its distinctive physical/chemical/biological properties, including high water-holding capacity, large surface area, cation exchange capacity, elemental composition, and pore size/volume/distribution, effect its recognized impacts, especially on microbial communities. These are explored in the context of agriculture, composting, and land remediation/restoration. Considerable focus is given to mycorrhizal associations, which are central to exploitation in environmental technologies involving biochar. The characteristics of biochar, its availability for nutrient cycling, including the beneficial and potentially negative/inhibitory impacts, and the requisite multidisciplinary analysis (physicochemical, microbiological, and molecular) to study these in detail, are explored.

/pdf/biochar-carbon-sequestration-land-remediation-and-impacts-on-2cmysa86hh.pdf

Biochar: Carbon Sequestration, Land Remediation, and Impacts on Soil Microbiology

A new statistical approach for determining the crystallinity of heat-altered bone mineral from FTIR spectra

Estimating temperature exposure of burnt bone — A methodological review

An investigation into the internal and external variables acting on crystallinity index using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy on unaltered and burned bone

Meez Islam

Papers

The application of a new method of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to the analysis of burned bone

Biochar: Carbon Sequestration, Land Remediation, and Impacts on Soil Microbiology

A new statistical approach for determining the crystallinity of heat-altered bone mineral from FTIR spectra

Estimating temperature exposure of burnt bone — A methodological review

An investigation into the internal and external variables acting on crystallinity index using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy on unaltered and burned bone