Ricerc@Sapienza

Iron and its role as soul of life on Earth is addressed in this review as iron is one of the most abundant elements of our universe, forms the core of our planet and that of telluric (i.e., Earth-like) planets, is a major element of the Earth's crust and is hosted in an endless number of mineral phases, both crystalline and amorphous. To study iron at an atomic level inside the bulk of mineral phases or at its surface, where it is more reactive, both spectroscopy and diffraction experimental methods can be used, taking advantage of nearly the whole spectrum of electromagnetic waves.

In this work, hyperspectral imaging in the short wave infrared range (SWIR: 1000-2500 nm) coupled with chemometric techniques was evaluated as an analytical tool to detect and classify different asbestos minerals, such as amosite ((Fe2+)2(Fe2+,Mg)5Si8O22(OH)2)), crocidolite (Na2(Mg,Fe)6Si8O22(OH)2) and chrysotile (Mg3(Si2O5)(OH)4), contained in cement matrices. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used for data exploration and Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogies (SIMCA) for sample classification.