Mohammadreza Elahifard, Xiaoliang Wang, Judith C. Chow, John G. Watson
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) poses significant health risks in workplaces, including underground coal mines, metal and nonmetal mining, construction sites, fire suppression, and oil and gas industries. Raman spectroscopy offers a promising avenue for direct analysis of RCS on sample filters with minimal pretreatment. However, the presence of organic compounds (OC) in the samples can generate fluorescence signals that interfere with RCS measurements, potentially saturating the detector even at short integration times, particularly when using portable Raman instruments. This study explores a novel approach to address these challenges by functionalizing filters with a hydroxyapatite/silver bromide/titanium dioxide (HAT) photocatalyst, facilitating the oxidation and removal of OC using the Raman excitation laser. Photocatalytic degradation experiments conducted on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) filters preloaded with HAT and anatase titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles demonstrated that HAT significantly enhances the degradation of OC, such as oxalic acid, under visible light irradiation compared to TiO2. Additionally, fluorescence interferences were reduced for coal dust samples analyzed on functionalized silver filters using a portable Raman instrument. The efficacy of HAT in OC photocatalytic degradation on silver filters was further confirmed using a benchtop micro‐Raman system. Filter functionalization had minimal impact on filtration efficiencies and pressure drops, indicating the feasibility of this approach for improving RCS analysis while maintaining filter performance.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Raman Spectroscopy is an international journal dedicated to the publication of original research at the cutting edge of all areas of science and technology related to Raman spectroscopy. The journal seeks to be the central forum for documenting the evolution of the broadly-defined field of Raman spectroscopy that includes an increasing number of rapidly developing techniques and an ever-widening array of interdisciplinary applications.
Such topics include time-resolved, coherent and non-linear Raman spectroscopies, nanostructure-based surface-enhanced and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopies of molecules, resonance Raman to investigate the structure-function relationships and dynamics of biological molecules, linear and nonlinear Raman imaging and microscopy, biomedical applications of Raman, theoretical formalism and advances in quantum computational methodology of all forms of Raman scattering, Raman spectroscopy in archaeology and art, advances in remote Raman sensing and industrial applications, and Raman optical activity of all classes of chiral molecules.