The growth of the world agriculture economy largely depends on the efforts of scientists, operators and producers in investigating the proper use of innovative technologies in agricultural sciences. In particular, the implementation of modern precision agriculture, i.e. a management practice that takes into account the spatial variability of agricultural areas, implies the rationalization of the use of soils and inputs such as fertilizers, so to obtain a more sustainable production. An important issue of precision agriculture is the development and availability of sensors and portable equipments that can enable the fast analysis of macro and micronutrients and inorganic and organic pollutants [1] directly in the field. In particular, photonic devices, thanks to their high potential for miniaturization and reasonable costs involved in sample preparation and analysis, appear a very promising tool to develop instrumentations viable for field application. Traditional analytical techniques, such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ICP-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), have been widely used for the multi-elemental analysis of soils. However, these techniques generally involve long and complex sample preparation steps and the production of chemical waste, thus they do not respond efficiently to the demand of low-cost and realtime measurements for soils. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectrometry based on plasma generation by high power pulses [2,3], which features several advantages in its use in various sectors such as soil analysis. These include the potential for simultaneous multi-elemental analysis, minimal and fast sample preparation and processing, no production of polluting waste and relatively low cost compared to traditional techniques. Further, a specific feature that makes LIBS attractive for analyses in the field is the availability of system configurations enabling the construction of portable equipments for in-situ measurements [4,5]. Since the early days of LIBS, soils have been among the most popularly studied agricultural materials for the measurements of plant major and minor nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and phytotoxic trace elements. In the last decade, a few reviews have surveyed the application of LIBS to specific issues related to soils. These include: the elemental analysis of soils and other agricultural products [6]; the quantitative measure of soil C components with emphasis on soil organic C [7]; in combination with laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIFS), the evaluation of the humification degree of soil organic matter directly in intact untreated whole soils [8]; the recent progress of applications to the analysis of soils and fertilizers [9]. The aim of this commentary is to briefly focus on the most recent progress achieved by LIBS technology in the analysis of soils and provide insights into new research and application trends.
A Survey of Recent Applications of Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to Soil Analysis
Senesi GS
2020
Abstract
The growth of the world agriculture economy largely depends on the efforts of scientists, operators and producers in investigating the proper use of innovative technologies in agricultural sciences. In particular, the implementation of modern precision agriculture, i.e. a management practice that takes into account the spatial variability of agricultural areas, implies the rationalization of the use of soils and inputs such as fertilizers, so to obtain a more sustainable production. An important issue of precision agriculture is the development and availability of sensors and portable equipments that can enable the fast analysis of macro and micronutrients and inorganic and organic pollutants [1] directly in the field. In particular, photonic devices, thanks to their high potential for miniaturization and reasonable costs involved in sample preparation and analysis, appear a very promising tool to develop instrumentations viable for field application. Traditional analytical techniques, such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ICP-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), have been widely used for the multi-elemental analysis of soils. However, these techniques generally involve long and complex sample preparation steps and the production of chemical waste, thus they do not respond efficiently to the demand of low-cost and realtime measurements for soils. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a type of atomic emission spectrometry based on plasma generation by high power pulses [2,3], which features several advantages in its use in various sectors such as soil analysis. These include the potential for simultaneous multi-elemental analysis, minimal and fast sample preparation and processing, no production of polluting waste and relatively low cost compared to traditional techniques. Further, a specific feature that makes LIBS attractive for analyses in the field is the availability of system configurations enabling the construction of portable equipments for in-situ measurements [4,5]. Since the early days of LIBS, soils have been among the most popularly studied agricultural materials for the measurements of plant major and minor nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and phytotoxic trace elements. In the last decade, a few reviews have surveyed the application of LIBS to specific issues related to soils. These include: the elemental analysis of soils and other agricultural products [6]; the quantitative measure of soil C components with emphasis on soil organic C [7]; in combination with laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy (LIFS), the evaluation of the humification degree of soil organic matter directly in intact untreated whole soils [8]; the recent progress of applications to the analysis of soils and fertilizers [9]. The aim of this commentary is to briefly focus on the most recent progress achieved by LIBS technology in the analysis of soils and provide insights into new research and application trends.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
