Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T22:07:47.635Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Microscopy and spectroscopy with X-rays for studies in the environmental sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. Thieme*
Affiliation:
Institut fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany
S.-C. Gleber
Affiliation:
Institut fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany
P. Guttmann
Affiliation:
Institute fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, c/o BESSY GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
J. Prietzel
Affiliation:
Lehrstuhl fuer Bodenkunde, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
I. McNulty
Affiliation:
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
J. Coates
Affiliation:
Department for Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, 271 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
*

Abstract

X-ray spectromicroscopy is a powerful tool for addressing key questions in the environmental sciences due to its high spectral and spatial resolution. It has been used successfully for material research, biology and environmental studies, e.g. in the form of μ-X-ray fluorescence and spectromicroscopy with a spatial resolution of <100 nm. With the combination of high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy it is possible to determine elemental composition as well as chemical speciation, and also identify trace elements to nm-resolution. Samples from soils and groundwater aquifers have been imaged to visualize the appearance of structures on the nm- and μm-scale. The effectof changing chemical conditions in an aqueous environment on the appearance of these structures has been imaged and evaluated. Clay dispersions, microhabitats and morphological effects of biologically-induced redox changes of humic substances have been imaged tomographically, conveying a detailed threedimensional presentation of the specimen structure. Using the spectromicroscopy potential, the distribution of organic and inorganic components, as well as different inorganic components, has been studied. Spectra were analysed for major chemical constituents and were used, for example, to assess differentsulphur species in an entire soil profile.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

(2006) Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on X-ray Microscopy. IPAP Conference Series, 7, (Aoki, S., Kagoshima, Y. and Suzuki, Y., editors).Google Scholar
Chao, W., Harteneck, B., Liddle, J., Anderson, E. and Attwood, D. (2005) Soft X-ray microscopy at a spatial resolution better than 15 nm. Nature, 435, 1210–1213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coates, J., Chakraborty, R., O'Connor, S., Schmidt, C. and Thieme, J. (2000) The geochemical effects of microbial humic substances reduction. Ada hydro-chimica et hydrobiologica, 28, 420–427.Google Scholar
McNulty, I., Paterson, D., Arko, J., Erdmann, M., Frigo, S., Goetze, K., Ilinski, P., Krapf, N., Mooney, T., Retsch, C. Stampfl, A., Vogt, S., Wang, S. and Xu, S. (2003) The 2-ID-B intermediate-energy scanning X-ray microscope at the APS. Journal de Physique, 104, 11–15.Google Scholar
Mitrea, G., Thieme, J., Guttmann, P., Heim, S. and Gleber, S. (2008) X-ray spectromicroscopy with the scanning transmission X-ray microscope at BESSY II. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation, 15, 26–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prietzel, J., Thieme, J., Neuhaeusler, U., Susini, J. and Koegel-Knabner, I. (2003) Speciation of S in soils and soil particles by X-ray spectromicroscopy. European Journal of Soil Science, 54, 423–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, C. Thieme, J., Neuhaeusler, U., Jacobsen, C. Kaulich, B., Salome, M. and Susini, J. (2003) Spectromicroscopy of soil colloids. Jounal de Physique, 104, 405–408.Google Scholar
Susini, J., Joyeux, D. and Polack, F. (editors) (2003) X-ray Microscopy 2002 —7th International Conference on X-ray Microscopy. Journal de Physique IV, 104. Google Scholar
Thieme, J., Schneider, G. and Knoechel, C. (2003) X-ray tomography of a mierohabitat of bacteria and other soil colloids with sub-100 nm resolution. Micron, 34, 339–344.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thieme, J., Prietzel, J., Tyufekchieva, N., Paterson, D. and McNulty, I. (2006) Speciation of sulfür in oxic and anoxic soils using X-ray spectromicroscopy. IPAP Conference Series, 7, 318–320.Google Scholar
Thieme, J., McNulty, I., Paterson, D. and Vogt, S. (2007) X-ray spectromicroscopy — A tool for environmental sciences. Environmental Science and Technology, 6885–6887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar