Rapid Screening of Estuarine Sediments Properties Using Thermogravimetric Analysis and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometry

Oudghiri, F.; García-Morales, J. L.; Rodríguez-Barroso, M. R.

Rapid Screening of Estuarine Sediments Properties Using Thermogravimetric Analysis and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometry

2014

Oudghiri, F. | García-Morales, J. L. | Rodríguez-Barroso, M. R.

This study evaluates the degree of pollution of marine sediments using two methods: standard (physico-chemical parameters) and instrumental techniques: thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). ATR-FTIR proved to be a tool capable of identifying the organic and inorganic compounds in sediments such as organic carbon, clay, and carboxylate groups which can bind metal contaminants. TG results of 14 sediment samples were compared with organic matter (OM), organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), clay, and carbonate (CaCO₃) contents obtained by standard methods. The results showed that weight losses for a specific range of temperatures are closely correlated with the content of OM (R ² = 0.92), OC (R ² = 0.82), TN (R ² = 0.96), clay content (R ² = 0.87), and CaCO₃ (R ² = 0.9) for sediment samples. It is concluded that TG and ATR-FTIR allows a simultaneous, rapid, and reliable screening of sediment properties.

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