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.

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.

Noninvasive Detection of Cerebral Blood Flow and Blood Oxygen Based on Inductive Sensing Technology and Near Infrared Spectroscopy

The synchronous monitoring of cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen levels plays a pivotal role in the prevention,diagnosis,and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases.This study introduces a novel noninvasive device utilizing inductive sensing and near-infrared spectroscopy technology to facilitate simultaneous monitoring of cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen levels.The device consists of modules for cerebral blood flow monitoring,cerebral blood oxygen monitoring,control,communication,and a host machine.Through experiments conducted on healthy subjects,it was confirmed that the device can effectively achieve synchronous monitoring and recording of cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen signals.The results demonstrate the device’s capability to accurately measure these signals simultaneously.This technology enables dynamic monitoring of cerebral blood flow and blood oxygen signals with potential clinical applications in preventing,diagnosing,treating cerebrovascular diseases while reducing their associated harm.

In situ and operando infrared spectroscopy of battery systems:Progress and opportunities

In situ and operando infrared spectroscopies are powerful techniques to support the design of novel materials for batteries and the development of new battery systems.These techniques can support the study of batteries by identifying the formation of new species and monitoring electrochemical energy stability.However,few works have employed these techniques,which can be used to investigate various materials,including systems beyond lithium-ion technology,in the research of batteries.Therefore,this review presents a comprehensive overview focusing on the main contributions of in situ and operando infrared spectroscopy for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)and other battery systems.These techniques can successfully identify the formation of species during the electrolyte reduction,electrode degradation,and the formation of the solid-electrolyte interphase(SEI)layer.From these outcomes,it is possible to conclude that this characterization approach should be employed as a protocol to overcome remaining issues in batteries,consequently supporting battery research.This review aims to be a guide on how infrared spectroscopy can contribute to monitoring battery systems and to lead researchers interested in applying this technique.

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.

Polarization Dependent Time-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy and Its Applications

Polarization dependent time-resolved infrared （TRIR） spectroscopy has proven to be a useful technique to study the structural dynamics in a photochemical process. The angular information of transient species is obtainable in this measurement, which makes it a valuable technique for the investigation of electron distribution, molecular structure, and conformational dynamics. In this review, we briefly introduce the principles and applications of polarization dependent TRIR spectroscopy. We mainly focused on the following topics： （i） an overview of TRIR spectroscopy, （ii） principles of TRIR spectroscopy and its advantages compared to the other ultrafast techniques, （iii） examples that use polarization dependent TRIR spectroscopy to probe a variety of cheinical and dynamical phenomena including protein conformational dynamics, excited state electron localization, and photoisomerization, （iv） the limitations and prospects of TRIR spectroscopy.

Analysis of Protein Content in Panicum miliaceum L. Using Near Infrared Transmittance Spectroscopy

[Objective] To explore a method for the rapid determination of protein con- tent in grains of Panicum miliaceum L. [Method] The near infrared transmittance spec- troscopy （NITS） was used to build the mathematical models for the quantitative analy- sis of protein content in the grains. Four combinations of treatment that first derivative and second derivative were respectively combined with partial least squares （PLS） and modified partial least squares （MPLS） were set to compare their effects on the original transmission spectrum. [Result] The predicting effects of the 4 combinations were similar. The optimal combination was first derivative with MPLS, in which the average determination coefficient of validation （RSQ） was 0.880 6, correlation coeffi- cient of cross validation （1-VR） was 0.857 0, standard error of calibration （SEC） was 0.342 4, standard error of cross validation （SECV） was 0.375 1, and the standard er- ror of prediction （SEP） was 0.454. [Conclusion] The constructed NITS model is a rapid way for the determination of protein content in grains of P. miliaceum.

Study on Methanol Oxidation at Pt and PtRu Electrodes by Combining in situ Infrared Spectroscopy and Differential Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry

Methanol oxidation reaction （MOR） at Pt and Pt electrode surface deposited with various amounts of Ru （denoted as PtxRuy, nominal coverage y is 0.17, 0.27, and 0.44 ML） in 0.1 mol/L HClO4＋0.5 mol/L MeOH has been studied under potentiostatic conditions by in situ FTIR spectroscopy in attenuated-total-reflection con guration and di erential electro-chemical mass spectrometry under controlled flow conditions. Results reveal that （i） CO is the only methanol-related adsorbate observed by IR spectroscopy at all the Pt and PtRu electrodes examined at potentials from 0.3 V to 0.6 V （vs. RHE）; （ii） at Pt0.56Ru0.44, two IR bands, one from CO adsorbed at Ru islands and the other from COL at Pt substrate are detected, while at other electrodes, only a single band for COL adsorbed at Pt is observed; （iii） MOR activity decreases in the order of Pt0.73Ru0.27〉Pt0.56Ru0.44〉Pt0.83Ru0.17〉Pt; （iv） at 0.5 V, MOR at Pt0.73Ru0.27 reaches a current e ciency of 50% for CO2 production, the turn-over frequency from CH3OH to CO2 is ca. 0.1 molecule/（site sec）. Suggestions for further improving of PtRu catalysts for MOR are provided.

Detection of Broad Bean Diseases by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Curve Fitting

Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy was used to study diseased leaves in broad bean. Results showed that the infrared spectra of different broad bean diseased leaves were similar, which were mainly made up of the vibrational absorption bands of protein,lipid and polysaccharide.There were minor differences in-cluding the spectral peak position, peak shape and the absorption intensity in the range of 1 800-1 300 cm-1. There were obvious differences among their second derivative spectra in the range of 1 800-1 300 cm-1. After the procedure of the Fourier self-deconvolution and curve fitting of health bean leaves and broad bean diseased leaves in the range of 1 700-1 500 cm-1, three sub-peaks were obtained at 1 550 cm-1 （protein amide Ⅱ band）, 1 605 cm-1 （lignin） and 1 650 cm-1 （protein amide I band）.The ratios of relative areas of the bands of amide Ⅱ, lignin, and amide I were 38.86%, 28.68% and 32.47% in the spectra of healthy leaves, respec-tively. It was distinguished from the diseased leaves （chocolate spot leaf： 15.42%, 42.98% and 41.61%, ring spot leaf：32.39%, 35.63% and 31.98%, rust leaf： 13.97%, 46.40% and 39.65%, yel owing leaf curl disease leaf： 24.01%,36.55% and 39.44%）. For sub-peak area ratios （A1 563/A1 605, A1 650/A1 605 and A1 563/A1 654）, those of four kinds of diseased leaves were smal er than that of healthy leaves, and there were also differences among four kinds of diseased leaves. The results proved that FTIR combining with curve fitting might be a potential y useful tool for detecting different kinds of broad bean diseases.

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.

Rapid Detection on Quinoa Fiber Based on Near Infrared Spectroscopy

[Objective] To explore a rapid determination method for fiber content in grains of quinoa. [Method] Near infrared spectra of 100 quinoa samples were collected. The predicted models for quantitative analysis of fiber contents in the grains were built using near infrared transmittance spectroscopy （NITS）. [Result] In the wavelength range of 10 000-4 000 cm-1, the near infrared quantitative model of quinoa crude fiber was set up via first derivative ＋ vector normalization preprocessing and combining with the data from chemical methods. The calibration and prediction effect were best, and then the cross validation determination coefficient （FFcv） and external validation determination coefficient （FFval） of fiber by near in- frared quantitative model were 0.884 8 and 0.876 1, respectively. [Conclusion] the model of NITS about complete grains quinoa fiber can be available for fast detecting quinoa fiber content.

Applications of in-situ wide spectral range infrared absorption spectroscopy for CO oxidation over Pd/SiO_(2) and Cu/SiO_(2) catalysts

Infrared(IR)absorption spectroscopy has been widely used for dynamic characterization of catalysts and mechanism of catalytic reactions.However,due to the strong infrared absorption of heterogeneous catalysts(mainly oxides,or supported metal and metal oxides,etc.)below 1200 cm^(-1),and the intensity of regular infrared light source rapidly decays at low-wavenumber range,most in-situ infrared spectroscopy studies are limited to the detection of surface adsorbates in the range of 4000-900 cm^(-1).The change of catalytically active component itself(M-O,M-M bond,etc.,1200-50 cm^(-1))during the reaction is hard to be tracked under reaction conditions by in-situ IR.In this work,a home-made in-situ IR reactor was designed and a sample preparing method was developed.With such progresses,the changes of reactants,products,surface adsorbates,and catalysts themselves can be measured under the same reaction conditions with a spectral range of 4000-400 cm^(-1),providing a new opportunity for in-situ characterization of heterogeneous catalysis.CO oxidation on Pd/SiO_(2) and Cu/SiO_(2) catalysts were taken as examples,since both the two catalytic systems were extensively used commercially,and moreover reduction and oxidation of palladium and copper occur during the examined reaction conditions.The characteristic bands of Pd^(2+)-O(670,608 cm^(-1)),Cu^(+)-O(635 cm^(-1))and Cu^(2+)-O(595,535 cm^(-1))were observed by IR,and the changes during CO oxidation reaction were successfully monitored by IR.The oxidation/reduction of palladium and copper were also confirmed by ex-situ XPS.Moreover,Pd^(0) in Pd/SiO_(2) and Cu^(+)in Cu/SiO_(2) were found as the thermal dynamically stable phases under the examined conditions for CO oxidation.

Determination of Melamine by Infrared Spectroscopy Based on Nonlinear Modeling

[Objective] The aim was to develop a nonlinear model of quantitative analysis of melamine content by infrared spectroscopy and provide theoretical basis for the nondestructive detection of melamine. [Method] According to dynamics,mathematical modeling and optimization theory,linear and nonlinear models were respectively set up by taking an absorption peak of 1 550 cm-1 as characteristic absorption peak. [Result] The correlation coefficient of nonlinear model was 0.922 7 and the recovery was 96%,which showed that the nonlinear model was more accurate than linearity model with correlation coefficient of 0.904 9 and recovery of 557%. [Conclusion] It is feasible to determine melamine content by using the nonlinear model quantitatively.

Photochemical Reaction of Benzoin Caged Compound： Time-Resolved Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Study

The benzoin group caged compound has received strong interests due to its excellent photo- deprotection properties and wide use in chemical and biological studies. We used timeresolved infrared spectroscopy to investigate the photochemical reaction of the benzoin caged compound, o-（2-methylbenzoyl）-DL-benzoin under 266 nm laser irradiation. Taking advantage of the specific vibrational marker bands and the IR discerning capability, we have detected and identified the uncaging product 2-methylbenzoic acid, and two intermediate radicals of benzoyl and 2-methylbenzoate benzyl in the transient infrared spectra. Our results provide spectral evidence to support the homolytic cleavage reaction of C-C=O bond in competition with the deprotection reaction. Moreover, the product yields of 2-methylbenzoic acid and benzoyl radical were observed to be affected by solvents and a largely water contalning solvent can be in favor of the deprotection reaction.

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.

Supercritical water syntheses of transition metal-doped CeO_2 nano-catalysts for selective catalytic reduction of NO by CO:An in situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy study

In the present study,we synthesized CeO2 catalysts doped with various transition metals(M=Co,Fe,or Cu)using a supercritical water hydrothermal route,which led to the incorporation of the metal ions in the CeO2 lattice,forming solid solutions.The catalysts were then used for the selective catalytic reduction(SCR)of NO by CO.The Cu‐doped catalyst exhibited the highest SCR activity;it had a T50(i.e.,50%NO conversion)of only 83°C and a T90(i.e.,90%NO conversion)of 126°C.Such an activity was also higher than in many state‐of‐the‐art catalysts.In situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy suggested that the MOx‐CeO2 catalysts(M=Co and Fe)mainly followed an Eley‐Rideal reaction mechanism for CO‐SCR.In contrast,a Langmuir‐Hinshelwood SCR reaction mechanism occurred in CuO‐CeO2 owing to the presence of Cu+species,which ensured effective adsorption of CO.This explains why CuO‐CeO2 exhibited the highest activity with regard to the SCR of NO by CO.

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 Active Components in a Natural Herb with Near Infrared Spectroscopy Based on Artificial Neural Networks

The non-linear relationships between the contents of ginsenoside Rg 1, Rb 1, Rd and Panax notoginseng saponins(PNS) in Panax notoginseng root herb and the near infrared(NIR) diffuse reflectance spectra of the herb were established by means of artificial neural networks(ANNs). Four three-layered perception feed-forward networks were trained with an error back-propagation algorithm. The significant principal components of the NIR spectral data matrix were utilized as the input of the networks. The networks architecture and parameters were selected so as to offer less prediction errors. Relative prediction errors for Rg 1, Rb 1, Rd and PNS obtained with the optimum ANN models were 8.99%, 6.54%, 8.29%, and 5.17%, respectively, which were superior to those obtained with PLSR methods. It is verified that ANN is a suitable approach to model this complex non-linearity. The developed method is fast, non-destructive and accurate and it provides a new efficient approach for determining the active components in the complex system of natural herbs.