During the past decade there has been intense activity in the field of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). This activity includes studies of laser ablation and properties of the laser spark, the development of methods to enhance LIBS detection capabilities, and the application of LIBS to specific analysis needs. The unique capabilities of LIBS make it particularly suited for applications that cannot be addressed by conventional analytical methods. Potential applications of the method are numerous and several applications have been realized, resulting in on-line operating instruments. Other applications will require that the method be developed further to improve analytical performance. Here we present an overview of the LIBS method, discussing its many advantages and some important limitations as an analytical method and how these relate to potential applications.

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy—Capabilities and Limitations

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been regarded as a future superstar for chemical analysis for years due to its unique features such as little or no sample preparation, remote sensing, and fast and multi-element analysis. Chinese LIBS community is one of the most dynamically developing communities in the World. The aim of the work is to inspect what have been done in China for LIBS development and, based on the understanding of the overall status, to identify the challenges and opportunities for the future development. In this paper, the scientific contributions from Chinese LIBS community are reviewed for the following four aspects: fundamentals, instrumentation, data processing and modeling, and applications; and the driving force of LIBS development in China is analyzed, the critical issues for successful LIBS application are discussed, and in our opinion, the potential direction to improve the technology and to realize large scale commercialization in China is proposed.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in China

Speciation and detection of arsenic in aqueous samples: a review of recent progress in non-atomic spectrometric methods.

Coal is one of the world's most abundant primary energy sources. Real-time coal analysis technology is imperative for coal blending, combustion optimization, pollution reduction, and pricing. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been a promising candidate for coal analysis because of its uniquely fast, in situ, and online capabilities. Coal is a sedimentary rock with a complex and heterogeneous composition, and therefore, laser–coal interaction exhibits multiple phenomena. A systematic study of the experimental conditions required for stable coal–plasma formation and evolution is a headway for enhancing LIBS results. In coal-fired power plants, LIBS offers three installation sets, namely, inline, at-line, and offline, with minimal space requirements and ease of retrofit. Moreover, LIBS is a safer technique with lower installation and maintenance costs and fits the concern of coal-fired power plants for multielemental detection in fast records. Coal analysis mainly includes calorific heat value determination, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, and other related analyses. LIBS data is handled with continuously developing mathematical and statistical modeling techniques to provide the smart extraction of the required spectral information for coal analysis. In this tutorial review, we summarize the previous research contributions utilizing LIBS for coal analysis, including fundamentals and key factors, operation modes, data processing, and analytical results. Over and above, LIBS contribution in fly ash analysis and certain literature concerning combustion diagnostics might be included to present a simple guideline for researchers interested in LIBS applications for coal utilization.

Coal analysis by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy: a tutorial review

This is the twenty-sixth annual review published in JAAS on the application of atomic spectrometry to the chemical analysis of environmental samples. This Update refers to papers published approximately between September 2009 and August 2010 and continues the series of Atomic Spectrometry Updates in Environmental Analysis that should be read in conjunction with other related reviews in the series.2–6 In the analysis of air, work is ongoing in developing new and existing air sampler devices with an increasing focus on sampling nanoparticles. Determination of mercury in the atmosphere remains a focus for many research groups and this year has seen a renewed interest in sampling and analysis of respirable silica. There is a growing interest in measuring emissions from transport sources such as aviation and shipping. In the field of water analysis, as in previous years, the main areas of activity are the development of preconcentration and extraction procedures and elemental speciation protocols. In the field of soil, plant and related materials analysis, the past year has seen a marked increase in publications featuring LIBS. The technique now appears well established for screening purposes but has not yet convinced detractors of its suitability for use in quantitative multi-element analysis. There is a growing body of literature examining species stability during sample pre-treatment and extraction. Slurry sampling has experienced renewed interest this year. In the field of geological analysis, as in previous years, considerable effort is being spent not only on the production, characterization and certification of new geological reference materials, but also on enhancing the certification of existing reference materials and the development of reference materials with assigned elemental isotopic ratios. Laser ablation continues to go from strength to strength in being adopted as a solid sampling tool within the geochemical community with a growing interest in coupling laser ablation systems to multicollector ICP-MS systems for in situ isotopic analysis. Feedback on this review is most welcome and the lead author can be contacted using the email address provided.

/pdf/atomic-spectrometery-update-environmental-analysis-3m2aisy9u2.pdf

Atomic Spectrometery update: environmental analysis

The purpose of this work is to improve the precision of the elemental analysis of coal using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The LIBS technique has the ability to allow simultaneous elemental analysis and on-line determination, so it could be used in the elemental analysis of coal. Organic components such as C, H, O, N and inorganic components such as Ca, Mg, Fe, Al, Si, Ti, Na, and K of coal have been identified. The precision of the LIBS technique depends strongly on the experimental conditions, and the choice of experimental parameters should be aimed at optimizing the repeatability of the measurements. The dependences of the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the LIBS measurements on the experimental parameters including the sample preparation parameters, lens-to-sample distance, sample operation mode, and ambient gas have been investigated. The results indicate that the precision of LIBS measurements for the coal sample can be improved by using the optimum experimental parameters.

/pdf/effects-of-experimental-parameters-on-elemental-analysis-of-3e34llt1lq.pdf

Effects of experimental parameters on elemental analysis of coal by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

The wastewater from industrial smelting process contains heavy metals such as arsenic (As) that produce serious environmental pollution and cause actual harm to the health of people. It is necessary to control the pollution at the source and achieve a real-time and online monitoring. The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a new elemental analysis technique, and has the advantage of rapid detection. An LIBS setup has been established. The Nd : YAG laser beam is focused onto the sample, then the plasmas are produced. The emission spectra of plasmas are dispersed by an Echelle spectrograph and detected by an intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD). Experiments have been carried out on the industrial wastewater collected from the scene. The spectral lines of As element were obtained. The calibration curve of the line intensities versus the concentrations of the As element was acquired by the experiment. The calibration curve can be used for the quantitative analysis of arsenic element with an unknown concentration in the industrial wastewater. The results showed that the LIBS technique can be applied in the rapid detection of As element in industrial wastewater, and has wide range of applications.

[Determination of as in industrial wastewater by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy].

Although an Ionic Soil Stabilizer (ISS) has been widely used in landslide control, it is desirable to effectively monitor the stabilization process. With the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), the ion contents of K, Ca, Na, Mg, Al, and Si in the permeable fluid are detected after the solidified soil samples have been permeated. The processes of the Ca ion exchange are analyzed at pressures of 2 and 3 atm, and it was determined that the cation exchanged faster as the pressure increased. The Ca ion exchanges were monitored for different stabilizer mixtures, and it was found that a ratio of 1:200 of ISS to soil is most effective. The investigated plasticity and liquidity indexes also showed that the 1:200 ratio delivers the best performance. The research work indicates that it is possible to evaluate the engineering performances of soil solidified by ISS in real time and online by LIBS. Crown Copyright (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Validation of the solidifying soil process using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Experimental Analysis of Spectra of Metallic Elements in Solid Samples by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy is used to analyze the lead content in soils. The analyzed spectral line profile is fitted by Lorentzian function for determining the background and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) intensity of spectral line. A self-absorption correction model based on the information of spectral broadening is introduced to calculate the true value of spectral line intensity, which refers to the elemental concentration. The results show that the background intensity obtained by spectral profile fitting is very effective and important due to removing the interference of spectral broadening, and a better precision of calibration analysis is acquired by correcting the self-absorption effect.

Zhaoxiang Lin

Papers

Effects of experimental parameters on elemental analysis of coal by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

[Determination of as in industrial wastewater by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy].

Validation of the solidifying soil process using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Experimental Analysis of Spectra of Metallic Elements in Solid Samples by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Correction and analysis of lead content in soil by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy