Determination of Chloride Content in Different Types of Cement Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

The characterization and accurate determination of the chloride content in cement/concrete is very important for the assessment of the durability and safety of a concrete structure. The available analytical techniques are relatively expensive and time consuming. In this study, a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system was used for determination of elemental composition in three different types of cement samples. The plasma was generated by focusing a pulsed Nd: YAG laser at 1064 nm on the cement samples. The concentrations of different elements of significance for structural stability in cement samples were determined. The evaluation of the potential and the capabilities of LIBS as a rapid tool for characterization of cement samples is discussed. The optimum LIBS setup and experimental conditions to detect and measure chloride in building materials are reported. The LIBS results were compared with the results obtained using a standard analytical technique such as inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy (ICP–ES). The limits of detection were determined, and calibration curves were measured. The results of this investigation indicate the reliability of LIBS to characterize different cement samples and to assess the chloride content in these cements.     

基于激光诱导击穿光谱的化验室水泥质量检测设备研制

研制了一套基于激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)的化验室水泥质量检测设备,可对水泥生熟料成分及率值进行快速检测。对该设备的总体结构、光学系统、样本制备、光谱处理方法等几方面进行了介绍。通过内标法建立定标模型,将LIBS测量结果与X射线荧光光谱分析(XRF)结果进行了对比分析,该套LIBS设备对水泥生熟料中CaO,SiO₂,Al₂O₃和Fe₂O₃测量的平均绝对误差分别为0.46%,0.25%,0.13%和0.05%,对水泥熟料率值KH,SM,IM测量的平均绝对误差分别为0.02,0.05和0.04;通过计算激发产生的等离子体温度和电子密度,验证了激光诱导水泥等离子体处于局部热平衡(LTE)态。     

水泥生料品质激光在线检测设备研制

水泥质量的优劣直接影响到建筑工程的安全,使用品质合格的水泥材料是保证工程结构质量的必要前提,因此快速检测水泥生料成份对于及时指导调整原料配比和保障水泥产品品质具有重要意义。传统的生料检测需要经过取样、制样、化验等环节,检测结果严重滞后于生产。我们通过产学研协同攻关,研制了一套基于激光诱导击穿光谱(laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, LIBS)技术的水泥生料品质在线检测设备,该设备由LIBS光学检测系统和气动取送样系统两部分组成,实现了对水泥生产线上水泥生料品质的实时连续测量,避免了传统的取制样环节,从而大大缩短了化验时间,所测水泥生料成分的实时数据能够及时指导调整水泥原料的配比,保证水泥质量的合格。我们利用该LIBS水泥品质在线检测设备对水泥生产线上生料中的主成分Al₂O₃,CaO,Fe₂O₃,MgO和SiO₂进行了定量分析,利用全谱归一化和支持向量机(support vector machine,SVM)对水泥生料建立定标模型,对水泥生料中Al₂O₃,CaO,Fe₂O₃,MgO和SiO₂测量的最大误差分别是0.34%,0.35%,0.07%,0.14%和0.55%。现场实验结果表明,本水泥生料品质激光在线检测设备的测量结果与传统化验法的结果相吻合,测量精度与X射线荧光光谱法(XRF)相接近,从而证实了LIBS可以作为水泥在线检测的一种有前景的方法。     

Calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for quantitative elemental analysis of materials

The application of calibration-free laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (CF-LIBS) for quantitative analysis of materials, illustrated by CF-LIBS applied to a brass sample of known composition, is presented in this paper. The LIBS plasma is produced by a 355?nm pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 6?ns focussed onto a brass sample in air at atmospheric pressure. The time-resolved atomic and ionic emission lines of Cu and Zn from the LIBS spectra recorded by an Echelle spectrograph coupled with a gated intensified charge coupled detector are used for the plasma characterization and the quantitative analysis of the sample. The time delay where the plasma is optically thin and is also in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), necessary for the elemental analysis of samples from the LIBS spectra, is deduced. An algorithm relating the experimentally measured spectral intensity values with the basic physics of the plasma is developed. Using the algorithm, the Zn and Cu concentrations in the brass sample are determined. The analytical results obtained from the CF-LIBS technique agree well with the certified values of the elements in the sample, with an accuracy error <1%.     

LIBS application for analyses of martian crust analogues: search for the optimal experimental parameters in air and CO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis></Subscript> atmosphere

The optimal experimental conditions for quantitative analyses of the Martian similar crust by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) were studied comparatively in the air at atmospheric pressure and under the simulated planet atmosphere. Different laser energies were applied and the plasma dynamic, in terms of the emission intensity, temperature and electron density, were studied. The choice of the best experimental parameters includes: acquisition delay from the laser pulse and gate where the conditions of Local Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) holds, as necessary for the quantitative analyses, and further optimisation of the same parameters, as well as of the shot number, in order to maximize signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). Preliminary results demonstrate that for the same laser energies in a rarefied CO₂ atmosphere the acquisition window where LTE conditions hold is much shorter than in the air due to the low electron density, fast plasma cooling and decay, where the last is the cause for even shorter optimum interval for maximizing S/N. PACS 52.70; 52.50.J; 42.62.F; 07.87     

激光波长对煤激光诱导击穿光谱特性影响的试验研究

我国电站入炉煤种复杂多变,实时快速获取煤质成分对保障锅炉的安全、高效、低污染运行具有重大意义。将激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)技术应用于燃煤煤质测量,观测了不同波长激光(355,532和1 064 nm)诱导产生的等离子体时间演变特性和不同电离特性元素的谱线时间特性,对比了出现屏蔽效应时的能量阈值随激光波长的变化特征,并研究了激光波长对煤LIBS光谱特性的影响规律。结果发现：使用532 nm激光作为激发光源时,煤LIBS光谱具有最强的谱线信号强度,且出现等离子体屏蔽效应的能量阈值也较高,是一种较理想的激发光源,为LIBS技术在煤质测量领域的工业应用提供了实验依据。     

Composition control for laser solid forming from blended elemental powders

Laser solid forming (LSF) from blended elemental powders is a powerful tool for the synthesis of novel materials. Accurate composition control is critical for the application of this technique. It is found that the chemical composition of as-deposited sample can be controlled the same as the premixed elemental powders by keeping the identity of the divergence angles of the elemental powder streams. A mathematical model was established to describe the powder delivery process during LSF from blended elemental powders. Based on the consistency condition for divergence angles of different elemental powder streams, the match condition among the elemental powder characteristics (including particle size and density) can be obtained, which ensures the consistency in composition between the laser deposits and the premixed elemental powders. LSF experiments were carried out using a blend of Ti, Al, and V powders and the composition analysis was performed on as-deposited samples. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of the developed mathematical model.     

基于LIBS技术的水泥粉末在线成分分析

在工业现场生产水泥的过程中，各种成分的含量直接影响着水泥的质量，因此如何快速准确地监测水泥中各个成分的含量意义重大。采用的实验方式为，将不经过任何预处理的水泥粉末直接放入位于二维移动平台上的物料盒中，通过激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)直接对水泥粉末表面的不同位置进行激发检测，对得到的光谱数据首先进行归一化和主成分分析等预处理操作，然后针对水泥中Ca, Si, Al, Fe, Mg五种元素，分别建立偏最小二乘(PLS)和支持向量回归(SVR)两种定量分析模型进行方法比较。此外，对比了粉末状水泥与压片式水泥两种测量方式的结果。实验结果表明，采用粉末状水泥直接测量的方式下，针对水泥样品元素浓度与所得到的光谱中特征线强度的关系，SVR方法比PLS方法更具优势，粉末状水泥直接测量的精度接近压片式测量的精度，说明LIBS技术对水泥粉末状样品直接在线测量具有可行性。     

Identification of nitro-compounds with LIBS

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is applied to characterize the organic compounds 4-nitroaniline and 4-nitrotoluene by measuring the intensity of atomic lines. The hypothesis of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) is verified by comparing the measured value of electron density in the laser-induced plasma with its lower limit, for which LTE holds good. The present study infers that the O/N intensity ratio is a unique parameter to discriminate each nitro-compound from the explosives.     

合金钢的激光诱导击穿光谱实验条件优化

利用1 064 nm波长Nd∶YAG脉冲激光诱导击穿合金钢产生激光等离子体光谱,采用高分辨率及门宽控制的ICCD探测LIBS信号光谱。选用铁元素原子谱线404.581,414.387,427.176和438.355 nm进行分析,研究了不同实验参数对LIBS光谱信号强度的影响结果。实验结果表明,激光脉冲能量、激光聚焦位置以及ICCD探测器的延时等实验参数对合金钢LIBS信号有较大影响。通过优化这些实验参数,获得高光谱强度和信背比的LIBS信号,确定了LIBS技术用于合金钢微量元素成分分析的最佳实验条件,从而开展合金钢样品成分分析。     

Detection of explosives with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Our recent work on the detection of explosives by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is reviewed in this paper. We have studied the physical mechanism of laser-induced plasma of an organic explosive, TNT. The LIBS spectra of TNT under single-photon excitation are simulated using MATLAB. The variations of the atomic emission lines intensities of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen versus the plasma temperature are simulated too. We also investigate the time-resolved LIBS spectra of a common inorganic explosive, black powder, in two kinds of surrounding atmospheres, air and argon, and find that the maximum value of the O atomic emission line SBR of black powder occurs at a gate delay of 596 ns. Another focus of our work is on using chemometic methods such as principle component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to distinguish the organic explosives from organic materials such as plastics. A PLS-DA model for classification is built. TNT and seven types of plastics are chosen as samples to test the model. The experimental results demonstrate that LIBS coupled with the chemometric techniques has the capacity to discriminate organic explosive from plastics.     

样品物理方法前处理提高猪肉中Pb元素的LIBS分析精度研究

农产品基体复杂,为了减弱水分和有机质对其痕量重金属元素LIBS检测能力的影响,以期提高目标元素LIBS分析灵敏度和预测精度。以实验室含Pb溶液污染处理的新鲜猪肉样品为例,对猪肉样品进行烘干、粉碎、压片处理,比较样品简单的物理方法前处理提高目标元素LIBS探测效果的可行性。通过采集猪肉鲜样和干样的LIBS谱线信息发现,鲜样受水分、有机质成分影响致使其谱线信息背景和噪声信号干扰较大;对于10个浓度梯度的样品,目标元素特征谱线Pb Ⅰ 405.78的LIBS强度信息在鲜样中无明显的差异性,而在干样样品中差异明显并表现出一定的梯度关系。说明LIBS缺乏对鲜样样品低浓度Pb污染的探测能力,干燥处理削弱了水分的影响、浓缩了样品浓度范围,提高了LIBS的检测灵敏度。通过目标元素Pb的真实浓度与其特征谱线LIBS强度线性定量模型分析,干样样品的线性相关系数远大于鲜样样品,此时猪肉干样样品检测限为5.13 mg·kg-1,说明干样样品具有一定的预测精度。整个工作证明猪肉等农产品在经过合适的、简单的物理方法前处理后,有望在LIBS分析灵敏度和检测精度方面发挥应有的潜力,且该物理方法前处理同样适用于其他肉类的LIBS检测分析。     

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy: A versatile tool for monitoring traces in materials

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an emerging technique for simultaneous multi-elemental analysis of solids, liquids and gases with minute or no sample preparation and thus revolutionized the area of on-line analysis technologies. The foundation for LIBS is a solid state, short-pulsed laser that is focused on a sample to generate a high-temperature plasma, and the emitted radiation from the excited atomic and ionic fragments produced within the plasma is characteristic of the elemental composition of the sample that can be detected and analyzed using a suitable optical spectrograph. In the present paper, the applicability of LIBS for different solid samples having homogeneous (silver ornament, aluminum plate) or heterogeneous composition (soil) using nanosecond laser pulses is discussed. Nanosecond pulse laser makes plasma at the sample surface even at very low pulse energies and also allows for precise ablation of the substrate material with little damage to the surrounding area. We have also studied the penetration of different heavy metals inside the soil surface.      

Measurements of plasma temperature and electron density in laser-induced copper plasma by time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral atom and ion emissions

Plasma produced by a 355 nm pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a pulse duration of 6 ns focussed onto a copper solid sample in air at atmospheric pressure is studied spectroscopically. The temperature and electron density characterizing the plasma are measured by time-resolved spectroscopy of neutral atom and ion line emissions in the time window of 300–2000 ns. An echelle spectrograph coupled with a gated intensified charge coupled detector is used to record the plasma emissions. The temperature is obtained using the Boltzmann plot method and the electron density is determined using the Saha-Boltzmann equation method. Both parameters are studied as a function of delay time with respect to the onset of the laser pulse. The results are discussed. The time window where the plasma is optically thin and is also in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), necessary for the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis of samples, is deduced from the temporal evolution of the intensity ratio of two Cu I lines. It is found to be 700–1000 ns.     

基于自吸收量化的激光诱导等离子体表征方法

为了表征激光诱导等离子体的定量特征参数,提出了一种谱线自吸收量化的方法,通过获得分析元素谱线的半高全宽来量化谱线自吸收程度,进而得到等离子体的特征参数,包括电子温度、元素含量比以及辐射物质的绝对数密度.与传统激光诱导击穿光谱定量分析方法相比,新方法由于计算过程与谱线强度弱相关,所以分析结果基本不受自吸收效应的影响,同时也无需额外的光谱效率校准.基于铝锂合金的实验结果表明,该方法能够实现精确的相对定量分析和等离子体的特性诊断.     

Quantitative analysis of lead in aqueous solutions by ultrasonic nebulizer assisted laser induced breakdown spectroscopy

In this study, an ultrasonic nebulizer unit was established to improve the quantitative analysis ability of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for liquid samples detection, using solutions of the heavy metal element Pb as an example. An analytical procedure was designed to guarantee the stability and repeatability of the LIBS signal. A series of experiments were carried out strictly according to the procedure. The experimental parameters were optimized based on studies of the pulse energy influence and temporal evolution of the emission features. The plasma temperature and electron density were calculated to confirm the LTE state of the plasma. Normalizing the intensities by background was demonstrated to be an appropriate method in this work. The linear range of this system for Pb analysis was confirmed over a concentration range of 0–4,150ppm by measuring 12 samples with different concentrations. The correlation coefficient of the fitted calibration curve was as high as 99.94% in the linear range, and the LOD of Pb was confirmed as 2.93ppm. Concentration prediction experiments were performed on a further six samples. The excellent quantitative ability of the system was demonstrated by comparison of the real and predicted concentrations of the samples. The lowest relative error was 0.043% and the highest was no more than 7.1%.     

不同颗粒度铁屑LIBS光谱的基体效应及定量分析研究

激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)对固体进行检测时,受固体的表面物理形态和化学特性影响较大,因此,基体效应分析对LIBS在线检测研究有重要的意义。为了提高LIBS对表面凹凸不平样品成分在线检测的准确度,进行了LIBS对不同颗粒度铁屑样品的定量分析。实验所用的9种铁屑样品性状为松散的粉末、颗粒或长条状,为防止激光与样品相互作用时发生飞溅,将样品粘到双面胶上进行固定。采用的激发波长为1 064 nm、脉冲能量为35 mJ,探测器延时和积分门宽分别设置为1和10μs。为评估样品颗粒度不同导致的基体效应对LIBS光谱的影响,首先,利用主成分分析(PCA)对系列样品进行分类,结果显示,粉末状的四个样品被分出,即颗粒度不同导致的基体效应是样品光谱信号差异的主要原因。其次,以C3、 C5两个样品研磨前后的基体元素特征谱线FeⅠ330.635 nm为研究对象,通过对比谱线的强度和相对标准偏差(RSD)发现,颗粒度越小,谱线强度越大,稳定性越好。为校正LIBS光谱基体效应的干扰,采用了样品研磨预处理和光谱数据预处理两种方法。将细长条状的C3和C5两个样品进行研磨,研磨后谱线的强度和稳定性有较大提升;分别研究了强度归一化、多元散射校正(MSC)以及两者结合对光谱进行处理的效果,三种光谱预处理均使谱线的稳定性得到显著提高。通过支持向量机(SVM)对Cu元素的定量结果进行了评估和对比,结果发现,采用研磨样品并结合强度归一化与MSC预处理得到的校正效果最优,最终使S1和S2两个待测样品的Cu元素预测相对误差(RE)分别降为1.745%和1.857%,预测均方根误差(RMSEP)降为0.020。该研究可为表面凹凸不平样品的LIBS检测提供一定的方法依据和参考。     

基于激光诱导击穿光谱技术的土壤泥浆中Pb元素检测

激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)作为一种新兴的元素分析技术,具有实时在线、非接触、多元素同时探测等渚多优点.将LIBS技术引入土壤泥浆重金属污染的检测分析,力图发展一种针对泥浆重金属污染监测的原位传感技术.实验选择Pb作为探测元素,Mn为内标元素;采用重复频率10 Hz的Nd:YAG调Q激光器的二倍频(532 nm)输出作为激发光源,OCD收集信号,对实验室配制的不同浓度Pb泥浆样品的LIBS信号进行了探测分析.获得了各种浓度下Pb泥浆样品在Pb 405.78 nm和Mn 403.07 nm处的原子线强度比IPb/IMn及其随浓度变化的规律.结果显示IPb/IMn与样品的含铅浓度有着很好的线性关系,线性拟合相关系数R2达到0.994 9.初步证实了采用内标法对土壤泥浆中重金属Pb进行LIBS检测分析的可行性.文章还对泥浆重金属LIBS检测的影响因素进行了讨论.     

Evaluation of plasma produced by first and second harmonic nano-second laser for enhancing the capability of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy technique

Evaluation of plasmas produced and optimized for improving the capability of convenential laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for analytical purposes of solid samples is the main goal of the present work. The plasma produced in the present study was generated by focusing a single nano-second Nd:YAG laser at the fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm and at the second harmonic wavelength of 532 nm on an Al target in air at atmospheric pressure. The emission spectrum was recorded time resolved over the whole UV-NIR (200–1000 nm) spectral range. This work describes an extension of previously reported studies and focuses now on the determination of the plasma parameters at the optimum condition – highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and minimum limit of detection (LOD) — of the LIBS technique, which is now widely applied to the elemental analysis of materials in atmospheric air. Parameters of the produced plasma in the time interval from 0 to 10 μs are determined for to further understanding the LIBS plasma dynamics. O I and Mn I spectral lines are used in the present work as thermometric lines for the determination of the plasma temperature based on Boltzmann plots. Stark broadening of lines yields the electron density. The widths of the H _α -line at 656.27 nm, of the O I line at 844.65 nm, of Al II lines at 281.65 nm and 466.30 nm and of the Si I line at 288.15 nm has been utilized for that. The plasma temperature ranged from 0.73 eV to around 1 eV for the different laser energies with both laser wavelengths for the optimized plasma used for LIBS analysis. This temperature is very close to that well known for the other spectrochemical analytical techniques or in excitation sources such as inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).     

基于LIBS与化学计量学的植物叶片分类研究

激光诱导击穿光谱（LIBS）是一种高效快速的光谱采集手段,可应用于各类物质的元素分析工作中。线性判别分析（LDA）与支持向量机（SVM）是化学计量学中两种常用的有监督算法,均通过对已知不同种类的样本数据进行学习建模,进而实现对未知类别数据的归类。为了实现LIBS技术对有机物的高准确率识别,将这两种算法应用到LIBS光谱数据的分类中。实验利用波长为1 064 nm的纳秒激光烧蚀女贞、珊瑚树、竹子三种植物的叶片,并采集每种树叶220～432 nm波段的100组光谱数据。通过对300组样本的原始光谱数据进行主成分提取,由第一主成分（PC1）和第二主成分（PC2）的得分图得出三种植物光谱的相似度非常高。然后,利用每种叶片70组样本的光谱数据作为训练集建模,其余30组光谱数据作为测试集来进行树叶种类的预测识别。将PCA对原始光谱数据提取得到的前20个主成分作为LDA与SVM建模的属性值。对于LDA算法,将属性值分析后得到前两个判别函数值,通过聚类分析发现不同种类的植物叶片光谱数据在空间上的分离效果较好,同一种类基本聚集在一起。再借助马氏距离可得到测试集的平均分类正确率为96.67%。与此类似,使用SVM方法对训练集样本的数据进行学习得到分类超平面,对测试集的平均分类正确率达到98.9%。研究结果表明,经过PCA对数据的预处理,再结合LDA,SVM这两种方法可实现LIBS技术应用于复杂有机物的快速准确分类,并且PCA与SVM结合的分类正确率更高。该方法可在食品快速溯源、生物组织原位鉴别、有机爆炸物远程分析等领域应用。