In situ infrared, Raman and X-ray spectroscopy for the mechanistic understanding of hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen production by water reduction reactions has received considerable attention because hydrogen is considered a clean-energy carrier,key for a sustainable energy future.Computational methods have been widely used to study the reaction mechanism of the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),but the calculation results need to be supported by experimental results and direct evidence to confirm the mechanistic insights.In this review,we discuss the fundamental principles of the in situ spectroscopic strategy and a theoretical model for a mechanistic understanding of the HER.In addition,we investigate recent studies by in situ Fourier transform infrared(FTIR),Raman spectroscopy,and X-ray absorption spectroscopy(XAS) and cover new findings that occur at the catalyst-electrolyte interface during HER.These spectroscopic strategies provide practical ways to elucidate catalyst phase,reaction intermediate,catalyst-electrolyte interface,intermediate binding energy,metal valency state,and coordination environment during HER.

Application of near-infrared spectroscopy for fast germplasm analysis and classification in multi-environment using intact-seed peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.)

Peanut is a worldwide oilseed crop and the need to assess germplasm in a non-destructive manner is important for seed nutritional breeding.In this study,Near Infrared Spectroscopy(NIRS)was applied to rapidly assess germplasm variability from whole seed of 699 samples,field-collected and assembled in four genetic and environmentbased sets:one set of 300 varieties of a core-collection and three sets of 133 genotypes of an interspecific population,evaluated in three environments in a large spatial scale of two countries,Mbalmayo and Bafia in Cameroon and Nioro in Senegal,under rainfed conditions.NIR elemental spectra were gathered on six subsets of seeds of each sample,after three rotation scans,with a spectral resolution of 16 cm-1over the spectral range of867 nm to 2530 nm.Spectra were then processed by principal component analysis(PCA)coupled with Partial least squares-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA).As results,a huge variability was found between varieties and genotypes for all NIR wavelength within and between environments.The magnitude of genetic variation was particularly observed at 11 relevant wavelengths such as 1723 nm,usually related to oil content and fatty acid composition.PCA yielded the most chemical attributes in three significant PCs(i.e.,eigenvalues>10),which together captured 93%of the total variation,revealing genetic and environment structure of varieties and genotypes into four clusters,corresponding to the four samples sets.The pattern of genetic variability of the interspecific population covers,remarkably half of spectrum of the core-collection,turning out to be the largest.Interestingly,a PLS-DA model was developed and a strong accuracy of 99.6%was achieved for the four sets,aiming to classify each seed sample according to environment origin.The confusion matrix achieved for the two sets of Bafia and Nioro showed 100%of instances classified correctly with 100%at both sensitivity and specificity,confirming that their seed quality was different from each other and all other samples.Overall,NIRS chemometrics is useful to assess and distinguish seeds from different environments and highlights the value of the interspecific population and core-collection,as a source of nutritional diversity,to support the breeding efforts.

Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) Model-Based Prediction for Protein Content in Cowpea

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is a multi-purpose legume with high quality protein for human consumption and livestock. The objective of this work was to develop near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) prediction models to estimate protein content in cowpea. A total of 116 cowpea breeding lines with a wide range of protein contents (19.28 % to 32.04%) were selected to build the model using whole seed and ground seed samples. Partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) regression technique with different pre-treatments (derivatives, standard normal variate, and multiplicative scatter correction) were carried out to develop the protein prediction model. Results showed: 1) spectral plots of both the whole seed and ground seed showed higher spectral scatter at higher wavelengths (>1450 nm), 2) data pre-processing affects prediction accuracy for bot whole seed and ground seed samples, 3) prediction using ground seed samples (0.64 R2 0.85) is better than the whole seed (0.33 R2 0.78), and 4) the data pre-processing second derivative with standard normal variate has the best prediction (R2_whole seed = 0.78, R2_ground seed = 0.85). The results will be of interest in cowpea breeding programs aimed at improving total seed protein content.

Infrared Spectroscopy-Based Chemometric Analysis for Lard Differentiation in Meat Samples

One of the most pressing concerns for the consumer market is the detection of adulteration in meat products due to their preciousness.The rapid and accurate identification mechanism for lard adulteration in meat products is highly necessary,for developing a mechanism trusted by consumers and that can be used to make a definitive diagnosis.Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy(FTIR)is used in this work to identify lard adulteration in cow,lamb,and chicken samples.A simplified extraction method was implied to obtain the lipids from pure and adulterated meat.Adulterated samples were obtained by mixing lard with chicken,lamb,and beef with different concentrations(10%–50%v/v).Principal component analysis(PCA)and partial least square(PLS)were used to develop a calibration model at 800–3500 cm^(−1).Three-dimension PCA was successfully used by dividing the spectrum in three regions to classify lard meat adulteration in chicken,lamb,and beef samples.The corresponding FTIR peaks for the lard have been observed at 1159.6,1743.4,2853.1,and 2922.5 cm−1,which differentiate chicken,lamb,and beef samples.The wavenumbers offer the highest determination coefficient R2 value of 0.846 and lowest root mean square error of calibration(RMSEC)and root mean square error prediction(RMSEP)with an accuracy of 84.6%.Even the tiniest fat adulteration up to 10%can be reliably discovered using this methodology.

Process Characterization of the Transesterification of Rapeseed Oil to Biodiesel Using Design of Experiments and Infrared Spectroscopy

For optimization of production processes and product quality,often knowledge of the factors influencing the process outcome is compulsory.Thus,process analytical technology(PAT)that allows deeper insight into the process and results in a mathematical description of the process behavior as a simple function based on the most important process factors can help to achieve higher production efficiency and quality.The present study aims at characterizing a well-known industrial process,the transesterification reaction of rapeseed oil with methanol to produce fatty acid methyl esters(FAME)for usage as biodiesel in a continuous micro reactor set-up.To this end,a design of experiment approach is applied,where the effects of two process factors,the molar ratio and the total flow rate of the reactants,are investigated.The optimized process target response is the FAME mass fraction in the purified nonpolar phase of the product as a measure of reaction yield.The quantification is performed using attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy in combination with partial least squares regression.The data retrieved during the conduction of the DoE experimental plan were used for statistical analysis.A non-linear model indicating a synergistic interaction between the studied factors describes the reactor behavior with a high coefficient of determination(R^(2))of 0.9608.Thus,we applied a PAT approach to generate further insight into this established industrial process.

Recognition of wood surface defects with near infrared spectroscopy and machine vision

To improve the accuracy in recognizing defects on wood surfaces,a method fusing near infrared spectroscopy(NIR)and machine vision was examined.Larix gmelinii was selected as the raw material,and the experiments focused on the ability of the model to sort defects into four types:live knots,dead knots,pinholes,and cracks.Sample images were taken using an industrial camera,and a morphological algorithm was applied to locate the position of the defects.A portable near infrared spectrometer(900–1800 nm)collected the spectra of these positions.In addition,principal component analysis was utilized on these variables from spectral information and principal component vectors were extracted as the inputs of the model.The results show that a back propagation neural network model exhibited better discrimination accuracy of 92.7%for the training set and 92.0%for the test set.The research reveals that the NIR fusing machine vision is a feasible tool for detecting defects on board surfaces.

Discrimination of Transgenic Rice Based on Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy and Partial Least Squares Regression Discriminant Analysis

Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy （NIRS）, a non-destructive measurement technique, was combined with partial least squares regression discrimiant analysis （PLS-DA） to discriminate the transgenic （TCTP and mi166） and wild type （Zhonghua 11） rice. Furthermore, rice lines transformed with protein gene （OsTCTP） and regulation gene （Osmi166） were also discriminated by the NIRS method. The performances of PLS-DA in spectral ranges of 4 000-8 000 cm-1 and 4 000-10 000 cm-1 were compared to obtain the optimal spectral range. As a result, the transgenic and wild type rice were distinguished from each other in the range of 4 000-10 000 cm-1, and the correct classification rate was 100.0% in the validation test. The transgenic rice TCTP and mi166 were also distinguished from each other in the range of 4 000-10 000 cm-1, and the correct classification rate was also 100.0%. In conclusion, NIRS combined with PLS-DA can be used for the discrimination of transgenic rice.

Mathematic Models for Analysis of Quality Components in Sugarcane Juice with Fourier Transform Near Infrared Spectroscopy

With the technique of Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy, the calibration models for quantitative analysis of sucrose and polarization in sugarcane juice were developed by using transmission mode and calibrating with partial least square (PLS) algorithm. The determination coefficients (R2) of the predicted models for sucrose and polarization in juice were 0. 9980 and 0. 9979 respectively; the root mean square errors of cross validation (RMSECV) were 0. 143 and 0. 155% for sucrose and polarization in juice respectively. The predictive errors measured by FT-NIR were close to those by routine laboratory methods. The results demonstrated that the FT-NIR methods had high accuracy and they were able to replace the routine laboratory analysis. It was also demonstrated that as a rapid and accurate measurement, the FT-NIR technique had potential applications in quality control of mill sugarcane, establishment of payment system based on sugarcane quality, and selection of clones in sugarcane breeding.

Application of Wavelet Transform in the Prediction of Navel Orange Vitamin C Content by Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

This study was to search for an approach for rapid measurement of orange vitamin C （Vc） content. By using different decomposing levels of Daubechies 3 wavelet transform, the near-infrared spectra signals obtained from intact fruits of 100 navel orange samples were denoised, and the results of the predicted Vc contents for the corresponding samples determined by the reconstructed spectra after denoising were validated by means of PLS-CV （partial least squared-cross validation）. It was shown that the prediction effects verified by PLS-CV analysis varied when different wavelet transform decomposing levels were employed. At the wavelet decomposing level 4, the best prediction effect was obtained, with the correlation coefficient R between the prediction and true values being 0.9574 and the expected variance RMSECV being as low as 3.9 mg 100 g^-1. Furthermore, the 11 different approaches for the pretreatment of the near-infrared spectrum were compared. It was found that the calibration model established by PLS using spectra pretreated by wavelet transform denoising provided the best prediction for Vc content, exhibiting the highest correlation between the prediction and true values by cross validation. In conclusion, the near infrared spectral model denoised by means of wavelet transform can be used for accurate, rapid, and nondestructive quantitative analysis on navel orange Vc content.

Rapid Non-destructive Detection for Molds Colony of Paddy Rice Based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Near infrared spectrometer technology under a wavelength range of 918-1045 nm was used to rapidly detect paddy rice that was stored at 5℃, 15℃ and 25℃. A total of 121 paddy rice samples were collected from artificial infection with moulds to build the calibration models to calculate the total number colony of moulds based on the principal component regression method and multiple linear regression method. The results of statistical analysis indicated that multiple linear regression method was applicable to the detection of the total number colony of moulds. The correlation of calibration data set was 0.943. The correlation of prediction data set was 0.897. Therefore, the result showed that near infrared spectroscopy could be a useful instrumental method for determining the total number colony of moulds in paddy rice. The near infrared spectroscopy methodology could be applied for monitoring mould contamination in postharvest paddy rice during storage and might become a powerful tool for monitoring the safety of the grain.

Acupuncture enhances brain function in patients with mild cognitive impairment: evidence from a functional-near infrared spectroscopy study

Mild cognitive impairment(MCI)is a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease.It is imperative to develop a proper treatment for this neurological disease in the aging society.This observational study investigated the effects of acupuncture therapy on MCI patients.Eleven healthy individuals and eleven MCI patients were recruited for this study.Oxy-and deoxy-hemoglobin signals in the prefrontal cortex during working-memory tasks were monitored using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.Before acupuncture treatment,working-memory experiments were conducted for healthy control(HC)and MCI groups(MCI-0),followed by 24 sessions of acupuncture for the MCI group.The acupuncture sessions were initially carried out for 6 weeks(two sessions per week),after which experiments were performed again on the MCI group(MCI-1).This was followed by another set of acupuncture sessions that also lasted for 6 weeks,after which the experiments were repeated on the MCI group(MCI-2).Statistical analyses of the signals and classifications based on activation maps as well as temporal features were performed.The highest classification accuracies obtained using binary connectivity maps were 85.7%HC vs.MCI-0,69.5%HC vs.MCI-1,and 61.69%HC vs.MCI-2.The classification accuracies using the temporal features mean from 5 seconds to 28 seconds and maximum(i.e,max(5:28 seconds))values were 60.6%HC vs.MCI-0,56.9%HC vs.MCI-1,and 56.4%HC vs.MCI-2.The results reveal that there was a change in the temporal characteristics of the hemodynamic response of MCI patients due to acupuncture.This was reflected by a reduction in the classification accuracy after the therapy,indicating that the patients’brain responses improved and became comparable to those of healthy subjects.A similar trend was reflected in the classification using the image feature.These results indicate that acupuncture can be used for the treatment of MCI patients.

Determination of Protein and Starch Content in Whole Maize Kernel by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy

Using 128 bulk-kernel samples of inbred lines and hybrids, a study was conducted toinvestigate the feasibility and method of measuring protein and starch contents inintact seeds of maize by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS). The chemometricalgorithms of partial least square (PLS) regression was used. The results indicated thatthe calibration models developed by the spectral data pretreatment of firstderivative+multivariate scattering correction within the spectral region of 10000-4000cm-1, and first derivative + straight line subtraction in 9000-4000cm-1 were thebest for protein and starch, respectively. All these models yielded coefficients ofdetermination of calibration (R2cal) above 0.97, while R2cv and R2val of cross and externalvalidation ranged from 0.92 to 0.95, respectively; however, the root of mean squareerrors of calibration, cross and external validation (RMSEE, RMSECV and RMSEP) werebelow 1(ranged 0.3-0.7),respectively. This study demonstrated that it is feasible touse NIRS as a rapid, accurate, and none-destructive technique to predict protein andstarch contents of whole kernel in the maize quality improvement program.

Feasibility study of assessing cotton fiber maturity from near infrared hyperspectral imaging technique

Background Fiber maturity is a key cotton quality property,and its variability in a sample impacts fiber processing and dyeing performance.Currently,the maturity is determined by using established protocols in laboratories under a controlled environment.There is an increasing need to measure fiber maturity using low-cost(in general less than $20000)and small portable systems.In this study,a laboratory feasibility was performed to assess the ability of the shortwave infrared hyperspectral imaging(SWIR HSI)technique for determining the conditioned fiber maturity,and as a comparison,a bench-top commercial and expensive(in general greater than $60000)near infrared(NIR)instrument was used.Results Although SWIR HSI and NIR represent different measurement technologies,consistent spectral characteristics were observed between the two instruments when they were used to measure the maturity of the locule fiber samples in seed cotton and of the well-defined fiber samples,respectively.Partial least squares(PLS)models were established using different spectral preprocessing parameters to predict fiber maturity.The high prediction precision was observed by a lower root mean square error of prediction(RMSEP)(<0.046),higher R_(p)^(2)(>0.518),and greater percentage(97.0%)of samples within the 95% agreement range in the entire NIR region(1000-2500 nm)without the moisture band at 1940 nm.Conclusion SWIR HSI has a good potential for assessing cotton fiber maturity in a laboratory environment.

Structure and Two-dimensional Correlation Infrared Spectroscopy Study of a New One-dimensional Chain Compound: (4,4’-Hbpy)_3[NaMo_8O_(26)](4,4’- bpy)_2(H_2O)_4 (bpy = Bipydine)

A novel compound, （4,4＇-Hbpy）3[NaMo8O26]（4,4＇-bpy）2（H2O）4 1 （bpy=bipydine）, was synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that compound 1 belongs to the monoclinic system, space group C2/m with a=19.1921（5）, b=18.6931（6）, c=9.3821（3） A° β=104.8020（11）°, V=3254.22（17）A°^3 C50H51Mo8N10NaO30, Mr=2062.52, Z=2, F（000）=2016, μ=1.591 mm^-1 and Dc=2.105 g/cm^3. The final R=0.0283 and wR=0.0912 for 3118 observed reflections （I〉20（I））. Compound 1 contains the β-[Mo8O26]^4-anion, sodium ion, 4,4＇-bpy and lattice crystalline water molecules. The β-[MosO26] units link the sodium ion to form a chain structure. The infinitechains of [Na（Mo8O26）]^3- blocks are surrounded by protonized 4,4＇-bpy cations, 4,4＇-bpy and lattice crystalline water molecules. The 2D-IR correlation spectroscopy study indicates that the stretching vibrations of Mo=O occur more preferentially due to the thermal effect. The TGA analysis shows that compound 1 has high thermal stability.

A simple,sensitive and non-destructive technique for characterizing bovine dental enamel erosion:attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Although many techniques are available to assess enamel erosion in vitro, a simple, non-destructive method with sufficient sensitivity for quantifying dental erosion is required. This study characterized the bovine dental enamel erosion induced by various acidic beverages in vitro using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared （ATR-FTIR） spectroscopy. Deionized water （control） and 10 acidic beverages were selected to study erosion, and the pH and neutralizable acidity were measured. Bovine anterior teeth （110） were polished with up to 1 200-grit silicon carbide paper to produce flat enamel surfaces, which were then immersed in 20 mL of the beverages for 30 min at 37 ℃. The degree of erosion was evaluated using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and Vickers＇ microhardness measurements. The spectra obtained were interpreted in two ways that focused on the ~1, ~3 phosphate contour： the ratio of the height amplitude of ~3 P04 to that of/11 P04 （Method 1） and the shift of the v3 P04 peak to a higher wavenumber （Method 2）. The percentage changes in microhardness after the erosion treatments were primarily affected by the pH of the immersion media. Regression analyses revealed highly significant correlations between the surface hardness change and the degree of erosion, as detected by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy （P〈0.001）. Method 1 was the most sensitive to these changes, followed by surface hardness change measurements and Method 2. This study suggests that ATR- FTIR spectroscopy is potentially advantageous over the microhardness test as a simple, non-destructive, sensitive technique for the quantification of enamel erosion.

Novel infrared differential optical absorption spectroscopy remote sensing system to measure carbon dioxide emission

A CO_2 infrared remote sensing system based on the algorithm of weighting function modified differential optical absorption spectroscopy(WFM-DOAS) is developed for measuring CO_2 emissions from pollution sources. The system is composed of a spectrometer with band from 900 nm to 1700 nm, a telescope with a field of view of 1.12?, a silica optical fiber, an automatic position adjuster, and the data acquisition and processing module. The performance is discussed,including the electronic noise of the charge-coupled device(CCD), the spectral shift, and detection limits. The resolution of the spectrometer is 0.4 nm, the detection limit is 8.5 × 10^(20)molecules·cm^(-2), and the relative retrieval error is < 1.5%.On May 26, 2018, a field experiment was performed to measure CO_2 emissions from the Feng-tai power plant, and a twodimensional distribution of CO_2 from the plume was obtained. The retrieved differential slant column densities(dSCDs)of CO_2 are around 2 × 10^(21) molecules·cm^(-2) in the unpolluted areas, 5.5 × 10^(21)molecules·cm^(-2) in the plume locations most strongly affected by local CO_2 emissions, and the fitting error is less than 2 × 10^(20)molecules·cm^(-2), which proves that the infrared remote sensing system has the characteristics of fast response and high precision, suitable for measuring CO_2 emission from the sources.

Visible and Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Discriminant Analysis Applied to Brand Identification of Wine

High-end wine brand is made through the use of high-quality grape variety and yeast strain, and through a unique process. Not only is it rich in nutrients, but also it has a unique taste and a fragrant scent. Brand identification of wine is difficult and complex because of high similarity. In this paper, visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used to explore the feasibility of wine brand identification. Chilean Aoyo wine (2016 vintage) was selected as the identification brand (negative, 100 samples), and various other brands of wine were used as interference brands (positive, 373 samples). Samples of each type were randomly divided into the calibration, prediction and validation sets. For comparison, the PLS-DA models were established in three independent and two complex wavebands of visible (400 - 780 nm), short-NIR (780 - 1100 nm), long-NIR (1100 - 2498 nm), whole NIR (780 - 2498 nm) and whole scanning (400 - 2498 nm). In independent validation, the five models all achieved good discriminant effects. Among them, the visible region model achieved the best effect. The recognition-accuracy rates in validation of negative, positive and total samples achieved 100%, 95.6% and 97.5%, respectively. The results indicated the feasibility of wine brand identification with Vis-NIR spectroscopy.

Deep belief network-based drug identification using near infrared spectroscopy

Near infrared spectroscopy(NIRS)analysis technology,combined with chemometrics,can be effectively used in quick and nondestructive analysis of quality and category.In this paper,an effective drug identification method by using deep belief network(DBN)with dropout mecha-nism(dropout-DBN)to model NIRS is introduced,in which dropout is employed to overcome the overfitting problem coming from the small sample.This paper tests proposed method under datasets of different sizes with the example of near infrared diffuse refectance spectroscopy of erythromycin ethylsuccinate drugs and other drugs,aluminum and nonaluminum packaged.Meanwhile,it gives experiments to compare the proposed method's performance with back propagation(BP)neural network,support vector machines(SVMs)and sparse denoising auto-encoder(SDAE).The results show that for both binary classification and multi-classification,dropout mechanism can improve the classification accuracy,and dropout-DBN can achieve best classification accuracy in almost all cases.SDAE is similar to dropout-DBN in the aspects of classification accuracy and algorithm stability,which are higher than that of BP neural network and SVM methods.In terms of training time,dropout-DBN model is superior to SDAE model,but inferior to BP neural network and SVM methods.Therefore,dropout-DBN can be used as a modeling tool with effective binary and multi-class classification performance on a spectrum sample set of small size.

Study on Detection of Pesticide Residues on Winter Jujube Surface by Near-infrared Spectroscopy Combined with PLS and SPA

With fresh winter jujube from the southern region of Xinjiang as the object of study, the method for detecting pesticide residues on winter jujube surface by near-infrared spectroscopy （NIR） combined with successive projections algorithm （SPA） and partial least squares （PLS） was investigated. The absorbance information of winter jujube sample surface was obtained through NIR technology, for the building of a full-wave band PLS model of fresh winter jujube sample sprayed with different concentrations of pesticide （taking chlorpyrifos as an example） as well as an SPA-PLS model which was built with the characteristic wavelengths extracted with SPA as the input variables for PLS, and the prediction precision of the two kinds of models was compared. The model built with the five characteristic waveslengths extected by SPA method only used the variables 0.32% of all the variables in the full wave band, but its accuracy and precision were better than the model built with the full wave band. It is feasible to build a model for different concentrations of chlorpyrifos on fresh winter jujube surfarce by NIR technology combined with SPA and PLS, and SPA method could simplify the complexity of the model and improve the precision and stablity of the model.

GP Algorithm-Based Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum Trend Term Removal Model

Trend term removal is a key step in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)data pre-processing.The most commonly used least squares(LS)method,although satisfying the real-time requirement,has many problems such as highly correlated initial values of the expression parameters,the need to pre-estimate the trend term shape,and poor fitting accuracy at low signal-to-noise ratios.In order to achieve real-time and robust trend term removal,a new trend term removal method using genetic programming(GP)in symbolic regression is constructed in this paper,and the FTIR simulation interference results and experimental measurement data for common volatile organic compounds(VOCs)gases are analyzed.The results show that the genetic programming algorithm can both reduce the initial value requirement and greatly improve the trend term accuracy by 20%-30% in three evaluation indicators,which is suitable for gas FTIR detection in complex scenarios.