The Story Goes On – Application of Established and Advanced NMR and MRI Techniques in Soil Science

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2020) | Viewed by 5321

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Group of Interactions between Soils, Plants and Microorganisms, Departament of Food Biotechnology, Instituto de la Grasa (IG-CSIC), 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: solid-state NMR; spectroscopy biogeochemistry; carbon sequestration; soil forest fires; biochar; organic matter; humic acid; soil chemistry; biodegradation; humic substances
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

During the last decades, both liquid and solid-state NMR spectroscopy in one and multiple dimension have been accepted as a powerful tool for the analysis of soil organic matter (SOM) and its alteration with changing environmental conditions. As further developments, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fast field cycling (FFC) NMR relaxometry, high resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) NMR or dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) NMR expanded considerably the selection of available NMR-based tools. Formerly discussed as highly innovative, some of those techniques turned into tools that nowadays are almost routinely applied, although their full potential for studying processes in soil is still only scarcely recognized. This can be explained by problems related to spectral resolution and sensitivity caused by the heterogeneous nature of soil-related material but also by the fact that many soil scientists are not aware that the technical improvements and the continuous developments of specialized and pulse techniques opened the door for new analytical approaches, which previously were not even feasible. In order to fill this gap, experienced NMR spectroscopists, working in the area of soil and environmental sciences as well as soil scientists applying these techniques, are invited to contribute to this special issue. The intention of this issue is to provide not only an introduction of the respective techniques to interested readers, but also to give examples of their successful application.

Dr. Heike Knicker
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • new NMR tools in soil and environmental sciences
  • chemical characterization of soil components by NMR
  • examination of dynamic processes in soils by NMR
  • imaging of soil processes
  • monitoring of soil management and pedogenic processes by NMR techniques

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

33 pages, 6013 KiB  
Review
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Fast Field-Cycling Setup: A Valid Tool for Soil Quality Investigation
by Pellegrino Conte and Paolo Lo Meo
Agronomy 2020, 10(7), 1040; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10071040 - 18 Jul 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4820
Abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are largely employed in several fields. As an example, NMR spectroscopy is used to provide structural and conformational information on pure systems, while affording quantitative evaluation on the number of nuclei in a given chemical environment. When dealing [...] Read more.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques are largely employed in several fields. As an example, NMR spectroscopy is used to provide structural and conformational information on pure systems, while affording quantitative evaluation on the number of nuclei in a given chemical environment. When dealing with relaxation, NMR allows understanding of molecular dynamics, i.e., the time evolution of molecular motions. The analysis of relaxation times conducted on complex liquid–liquid and solid–liquid mixtures is directly related to the nature of the interactions among the components of the mixture. In the present review paper, the peculiarities of low resolution fast field-cycling (FFC) NMR relaxometry in soil science are reported. In particular, the general aspects of the typical FFC NMR relaxometry experiment are firstly provided. Afterwards, a discussion on the main mathematical models to be used to “read” and interpret experimental data on soils is given. Following this, an overview on the main results in soil science is supplied. Finally, new FFC NMR-based hypotheses on nutrient dynamics in soils are described Full article
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