Miniaturized Near-Infrared spectrophotometers in forensic analytical science - a critical review.

The advent of miniaturized NIR instruments, also known as compact, portable, or handheld, is revolutionizing how technology can be employed in forensics. In-field analysis becomes feasible and affordable with these new instruments, and a series of methods has been developed to provide the police and official agents with objective, easy-to-use, tailored, and accurate qualitative and quantitative forensic results. This work discusses the main aspects and presents a comprehensive and critical review of compact NIR spectrophotometers associated with analytical protocols to produce information on forensic matters.

Multi-energy calibration for determining critical metals in nickel-metal hydride battery residues by microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry.

Nickel-metal hydride batteries (NiMH) are a secondary source of high aggregate value elements, such as nickel, manganese, cobalt, and rare earths, for which recycling typically involves acid lixiviation. Designing the recycling process requires accurate determination of the elements in the leachates, which is hindered by the high complexity of the matrix. In the present study, microwave-induced plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MIP-OES) was selected as the quantitative method for elemental analysis because of its environment friendliness and cost-effectiveness.