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Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Applied to Determination of Rare Earth...
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Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Applied to Determination of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Crystallography and Physical Chemistry of Minerals & Nanominerals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 3774

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Chet R. Bhatt

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Guest Editor
U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
Interests: optics; lasers and laser spectroscopy; raman spectroscopy; LIDAR; laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS); optical sensors; LIBS sensors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an atomic emission spectroscopy-based analytical technique in which an energetic laser pulse interacts with a test material to produce a plasma. The light emitted by this plasma is collected as spectra in order to obtain the required information about the material. LIBS is equally applicable to solids, liquids, gases, and aerosols. While other analytical techniques require long data processing times and test samples to be brought to a laboratory, LIBS can be used in the field to obtain results in minutes without any sample treatment.

We invite all researchers working in the field of applied spectroscopy to submit their research findings to the Special Issue “Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Applied to Determination of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals” in Minerals.

Theoretical or experimental attempts at something novel, improvements to existing approaches, or results in the field of spectroscopy may all be submitted.

Dr. Chet R. Bhatt
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • REE detection
  • laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
  • in situ analytical techniques, i.e., LIBS
  • atomic emission spectroscopy
  • rare earth element determination
  • material characterization techniques
  • LIBS applications for REEs

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1754 KiB  
Communication
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Applied to the Quantification of K, Ca, Mg and Mn Nutrients in Organo-Mineral, Mineral P Fertilizers and Rock Fertilizers
by Cesar Cervantes, Bruno S. Marangoni, Gustavo Nicolodelli, Giorgio S. Senesi, Paulino R. Villas-Boas, Caroline S. Silva, Ana Rita A. Nogueira, Vinicius M. Benites and Débora M. B. P. Milori
Minerals 2024, 14(11), 1109; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14111109 - 30 Oct 2024
Viewed by 868
Abstract
A low-cost laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) was tested in the atmospheric environment for the quantification of K, Ca, Mg, and Mn in some organo–mineral fertilizers, mineral P fertilizers, and rock fertilizers of various compositions and origins, [...] Read more.
A low-cost laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) was tested in the atmospheric environment for the quantification of K, Ca, Mg, and Mn in some organo–mineral fertilizers, mineral P fertilizers, and rock fertilizers of various compositions and origins, using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) as the reference technique. The correlation analysis performed between each CCD pixel and the corresponding element concentration measured by FAAS allowed to choose the most appropriate K, Ca, Mg and Mn emission lines for LIBS analysis. The normalization process applied to LIBS spectra to correct physical matrix effects and small fluctuations was able to increase the linear correlation of the calibration curves between LIBS data and FAAS data by an average of 0.15 points of the R-value for all elements of interest. The R values of calibration curves were 0.97, 0.96, 0.86 and 0.84, for K, Ca, Mg and Mn, respectively. The limits of detection (LOD) were 66 mg/kg (K), 35 mg/kg (Ca), 5.4 mg/kg (Mg) and 0.8 mg/kg (Mn) when using LIBS in the quantification model. The cross-validation (leave-one-out) analysis yielded an absolute average error of 12% (K), 21% (Ca), 8% (Mg) and 13% (Mn) when LIBS data were correlated to FAAS ones. These results showed that the calibration models used were close to the optimization limit and satisfactory for K, Ca, Mg, and Mn quantification in the fertilizers and rocks examined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Applied to Determination of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals)
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24 pages, 6021 KiB  
Article
Analytical Techniques for Detecting Rare Earth Elements in Geological Ores: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), MFA-LIBS, Thermal LIBS, Laser Ablation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy, Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer, and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy
by Amir Fayyaz, Muhammad Aslam Baig, Muhammad Waqas and Usman Liaqat
Minerals 2024, 14(10), 1004; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14101004 - 2 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2455
Abstract
Rare earth elements (REEs) hold significant industrial, scientific, and modern technological worth. This study focused on detecting and quantifying REEs in various geological ore samples. These samples were collected from different REE-bearing locations recommended by geological experts. The analysis was conducted using laser-induced [...] Read more.
Rare earth elements (REEs) hold significant industrial, scientific, and modern technological worth. This study focused on detecting and quantifying REEs in various geological ore samples. These samples were collected from different REE-bearing locations recommended by geological experts. The analysis was conducted using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LA-TOF-MS). In this work, LIBS methodology was employed using three different configurations: standard LIBS, LIBS with an applied magnetic field, and LIBS with both an applied magnetic field and target sample heating within an optimal temperature range. Elements from the REE group, specifically lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), and neodymium (Nd), were identified and quantified. To detect, quantify, and validate the results from LIBS and LA-TOF-MS, we utilized an array of analytical techniques—Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (ED-XRF), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Interestingly, the quantitative results for REEs (La, Ce, and Nd) in the ore samples obtained using the LIBS technique with various configurations were found to be in agreement with those from LA-TOF-MS, EDX, XRF, and ICP-OES. In addition, LIBS enables detailed microchemical imaging, allowing the map of the spatial distribution of elements within the mineral–ore matrix. The high-resolution microscale elemental mapping of REEs was accomplished using the emission lines Ce (II) at 446.0 nm, La (II) at 492.1 nm, and Nd (II) at 388.8 nm. By integrating multiple analytical techniques, our study enabled the construction of a complete elemental distribution map, providing new insights into the geochemical processes and mineral composition of rare earth ores, while advancing geochemistry and contributing valuable data for rare earth resource exploration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Applied to Determination of Rare Earth Elements and Critical Minerals)
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