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Title: Comparison of soil organic carbon speciation using C NEXAFS and CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy

Journal Article · · Science of the Total Environment
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3]
  1. Munich Univ. of Technology (Germany). Chair of Soil Science and Dept. of Ecology and Ecosystem Management
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
  3. National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). Material Measurement Lab.

Here, we compared synchrotron-based C near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and CPMAS 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with respect to their precision and accuracy to quantify different organic carbon (OC) species in defined mixtures of soil organic matter source compounds. We also used both methods to quantify different OC species in organic surface horizons of a Histic Leptosol as well as in mineral topsoil and subsoil horizons of two soils with different parent material, stage of pedogenesis, and OC content (Cambisol: 15–30 OC mg g-1, Podzol: 0.9–7 OC mg g-1). CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy was more accurate and precise (mean recovery of different C functional groups 96–103%) than C NEXAFS spectroscopy (mean recovery 92–113%). For organic surface and topsoil samples, NMR spectroscopy consistently yielded larger O-alkyl C percentages and smaller alkyl C percentages than C NEXAFS spectroscopy. For the Cambisol subsoil samples both methods performed well and showed similar C speciation results. NEXAFS spectroscopy yielded excellent spectra with a high signal-to-noise ratio also for OC-poor Podzol subsoil samples, whereas this was not the case for CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy even after sample treatment with HF. Our results confirm the analytical power of CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy for a reliable quantitative OC speciation in soils with >10 mg OC g-1. Moreover, they highlight the potential of synchrotron-based C NEXAFS spectroscopy as fast, non-invasive method to semi-quantify different C functional groups in soils with low C content (0.9–10 mg g-1).

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; 28WC406301
OSTI ID:
1463852
Report Number(s):
BNL-207922-2018-JAAM; TRN: US1902335
Journal Information:
Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 628-629, Issue C; ISSN 0048-9697
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 20 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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