Abstract
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) can provide crucial information on the molecular structure of organic and inorganic components and has been used extensively for chemical characterization of geological samples in the past few decades. In this paper, recent applications of FTIR in the geological sciences are reviewed. Particularly, its use in the characterization of geochemistry and thermal maturation of organic matter in coal and shale is addressed. These investigations demonstrate that the employment of high-resolution micro-FTIR imaging enables visualization and mapping of the distributions of organic matter and minerals on a micrometer scale in geological samples, and promotes an advanced understanding of heterogeneity of organic rich coal and shale. Additionally, micro-FTIR is particularly suitable for in situ, non-destructive characterization of minute microfossils, small fluid and melt inclusions within crystals, and volatiles in glasses and minerals. This technique can also assist in the chemotaxonomic classification of macrofossils such as plant fossils. These features, barely accessible with other analytical techniques, may provide fundamental information on paleoclimate, depositional environment, and the evolution of geological (e.g., volcanic and magmatic) systems.
Highlights
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) can provide fundamental information on the molecular structure of organic and inorganic components, and is one of the most versatile analytical techniques for the non-destructive, chemical characterization of geological samples, such as coal, shale, fluid and melt inclusions, silicate glass, minerals, and microfossils, e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Since the development of mercury-cadmium telluride (MCT) detector technology, the micro-FTIR technique has become increasingly popular in characterizing samples that are too small to be chemically analyzed by conventional FTIR 3techniques
This study demonstrated that micro-FTIR can distinguish various individual hydrocarbon fluid inclusions within a single sample, and this can be used to study the crude chemical evolution of hydrocarbons during the geological history of the sample [130]
Summary
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) can provide fundamental information on the molecular structure of organic and inorganic components, and is one of the most versatile analytical techniques for the non-destructive, chemical characterization of geological samples, such as coal, shale, fluid and melt inclusions, silicate glass, minerals, and microfossils, e.g., [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Equation (2) requires the absorbance of the species, sample density, thickness, and the molar absorptivity of a sample to determine the concentration of the species in the sample. Proper mathematical algorithms are required for the multicomponent quantification of more complex samples like coal and shale, principally owing to the overlap of the characteristics peaks of many components.
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