Structural characterization of steam-heat treated Tectona grandis wood analyzed by FT-IR and 2D-IR correlation spectroscopy

The properties of wood can be improved through steam-heat treatment.There are many studies about mechanical properties of steam-heat treated wood,but very few studies are on the aspects of chemical modifications.In this study,FT-IR spectra combined with SD-IR spectra,correlation coefficients and 2DIR spectra are employed to analyze the chemical modifications of teak[Tectona grandis L.F.） wood during steam-heat treatment under treatment temperatures from 120 ℃ to 220 ℃ at intervals of 20 ℃.Acetic acid,which is produced during steam-heat treatment,acts as a catalyst of condensation and degradation reactions of wood components.The changes of wood components are more and more intense with increasing the treatment temperature.The sensitivity of wood samples to thermal perturbation rises initially with increasing treatment temperature before falling back.The steam-heat treated wood under180℃ is the most sensitive.

Analysis and discrimination of ten different sponges by multi-step infrared spectroscopy

In this study,a convenient method using multi-step infrared spectroscopy,including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）,second derivative infrared spectroscopy（SD-IR） and two-dimensional correlation infrared spectroscopy（2DCOS-IR）,was employed to analyze and discriminate ten marine sponges from two classes collected from the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.Each sponge had an exclusive macroscopic fingerprint.From the IR spectra,it was noted that the main ingredient of calcareous sponges was calcium carbonate,but that of demosponges was proteins.For sponges from the same genus or having highly similar chemical profile（IR spectral profile）,SD-IR and 2DCOS-IR were applied to successfully reveal the tiny differences.It was demonstrated that the multi-step infrared spectroscopy was a feasible and objective approach for marine sponge identification.