Universiẗat, Diss., 2001--Kiel.

University, Diss., 2004--Mainz.

Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Karlsruhe.

For widespread use of biochar in agriculture and horticulture, it must be ensured that application will neither adversely affect soil and plants, nor exceed legislated contaminant concentrations. The most relevant groups of contaminants in biochar are potentially toxic elements (PTEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOC). In this thesis, the concentrations of these groups of contaminants were analysed in 90 different biochars produced by slow pyrolysis. Subsequently, the concentrations were compared to legislation/guideline threshold values and linked to production conditions. The risk these contaminants pose to plant growth was also assessed, to give recommendations on production of safe biochar. PTEs can neither be formed nor destroyed, which means their presence in biochar is predominantly determined by feedstock type. However, significant levels of Cr, Fe and Ni were introduced into biochar from the furnace steel, whilst PTEs with low boiling points, such as As, Cd and Zn, partially evaporated during pyrolysis. PTEs were not responsible for phytotoxic effects observed for PTE-rich biochars despite biochar’s exceedance of available and total PTE threshold values for soil and soil amendments. Although initial tests were promising, the risk that PTE-rich biochars as amendment for soil and growing media pose, needs further investigation. The PAH concentration in biochar was markedly reduced by increasing carrier gas flow rate, and the type of feedstock also influenced the PAH content. However, there was no clear dependence of pyrolysis temperature on PAH concentrations, which was attributed to PAHs being increasingly formed and evaporated at higher pyrolysis temperatures. Ultimately, condensation of pyrolysis vapours and deposition on biochar was identified as the main risk for biochar contamination with PAHs, as this resulted in elevated concentrations of high-risk, higher molecular weight PAHs. Weaknesses in the pyrolysis unit design, such as cold zones, resulted in elevated concentrations of VOCs, as well as PAHs, in biochar. Comparing concentrations and phytotoxic potential of both compound groups, it was concluded that observed toxic effects were much more likely caused by VOCs in biochars containing both contaminants. Overall, formation of VOCs and PAHs cannot be prevented, but their presence in biochar resulting from retention and deposition can be minimised.

La détection de gaz est un enjeu de plus en plus important, aussi bien dans le domaine de la surveillance de la qualité de l’air -intérieur et extérieur- que dans le suivi de procédés. Cet enjeu est d’autant plus critique dans le cas des composés organiques volatiles (COVs) que leur impact sur la santé publique est avéré. Détecter et quantifier leur présence devient une problématique majeure et différentes solutions existent. L’une d’elles, basée sur le couplage d’une nano-poutre résonnante et d’une micro colonne de chromatographie, s’avère être une solution prometteuse. Ces deux dispositifs alliant sélectivité et grande sensibilité nécessitent cependant une fonctionnalisation à l’aide d’une couche sensible. Ces travaux se sont focalisés sur le développement de matériaux sensibles de la famille des SiOCH déposés en couche mince par dépôt chimique en phase vapeur assisté par plasma (PECVD). L’étude de la réponse sous gaz des différents matériaux synthétisés au cours de cette thèse a été réalisée à l’aide de microbalances à cristal de quartz (QCM). Les mesures obtenues ont ensuite été corrélées à un modèle simple permettant de proposer une interprétation de l’interaction entre les SiOCH et le gaz d’intérêt, à l’équilibre mais aussi en régime dépendant du temps. La première partie de l’étude montre l’impact de la composition chimique de ces matériaux sur leur affinité envers un gaz représentatif des COVs aromatiques : le toluène. En s’appuyant sur des caractérisations physico-chimiques, le rôle de différentes liaisons chimiques ainsi que celui de l’hydrophobie des couches minces sur l’interaction avec le gaz d’intérêt a été analysé. Ces travaux montrent qu’un compromis entre composition chimique et hydrophobie doit être trouvé afin de préserver affinité et temps de réponse des SiOCH. L’étude de l’influence de la porosité sur la sensibilité a ensuite été abordée dans un second temps. Pour cela, des procédés originaux de réalisation de couches minces poreuses ont été développés afin de proposer de nouveaux matériaux poreux et d’accroître leur sensibilité vis-à-vis du toluène. Les limites de l’approche soustractive généralement utilisée pour ce type de matériau (i.e. l’approche porogène) ont pu ainsi être dépassées en termes de porosité et de tailles de pores. Concernant la détection de gaz, il s’avère difficile de décorréler l’impact de la chimie de celui de la porosité. Quoi qu’il en soit, l’augmentation de la porosité ouverte n’apparait pas comme le seul paramètre pertinent pour accroître la sensibilité de ces matériaux aux faibles concentrations. / Gas detection is a growing field, both for indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring and for process monitoring. It is indeed particularly critical in the case of volatile organic compounds (VOC) whose impact on public health is proven. Detecting and quantifying their presence becomes a major problem and various solutions are available. One of them, based on the coupling of a resonant beam and a chromatography micro column, appears to be a promising solution. Those two devices combine selectivity and high sensitivity; however, they require functionalization with a sensitive layer. This work focused on SiOCH thin films deposited by PECVD. The gas interaction of the sensitive layers deposited during this work was studied using quartz crystal microbalances (QCM). The obtained measurements were then correlated to a simple model, providing an interpretation of the interaction – for steady-state but also kinetic regime - between the SiOCH and the gas of interest. The first part of the study shows the impact of the chemical composition of those materials on their affinity for toluene, representative for aromatic VOCs. Relying on physico-chemical characterization techniques, the role of various chemical bonds on the solid/gas interaction was investigated. This work shows that a compromise between chemical composition and hydrophobicity has to be reached to preserve SiOCH affinity and temporal response. The influence of porosity was then explored in a second step to further increase the sensitivity of those materials. Original deposition processes were developed in order to propose new porous materials with higher toluene affinity. The limits of the subtractive approach generally used for these PECVD materials (i.e. the porogen approach) were then overcome in terms of porosity and pore size. Concerning gas detection, it is difficult to decorrelate between the impact of chemistry and porosity. Whatever, increasing porosity does not appear to be the only relevant parameter in order to increase these materials affinity at low concentrations.

Ce travail de thèse vise à caractériser l’interaction entre composés organiques volatils et poussières minérales atmosphériques. Les COV sélectionnés sont l’isopropanol (IPA), l’isoprène (ISP) et l’acide acétique (AcA). Cinq échantillons naturels de poussières minérales provenant de zones désertiques situées dans plusieurs régions du globe ont été retenus.Il a été mis en évidence que l’origine et donc la composition chimique des poussières naturelles joue un rôle majeur dans la nature de leur interaction avec les COV. Plus particulièrement, les coefficients de capture tendent à croître avec les rapports élémentaires Al/Si et Fe/Si. De plus, il est montré que l’interaction entre COV et poussières est fortement impactée par l’humidité relative et la température.Plusieurs modes d’interaction entre les COV et les poussières étudiés ont été mis en évidence : physisorption, chimisorption ou adsorption réactive. Ils dépendent de la composition chimique des poussières et de la structure des COV. En fonction du mode d’interaction, ces processus hétérogènes peuvent être considérés comme des puits de COV primaires voire des sources de COV secondaires en phase gazeuse. Ce travail met en lumière la contribution des processus hétérogènes dans l’atmosphère. / This thesis investigates the interactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with natural mineral dust samples. The VOCs used are isopropanol (IPA), isoprene (ISP) and acetic acid (AcA). Five natural mineral dust samples originating from various desert regions all over the world are used in this study.It is evidenced that the origin, I.E. the chemical composition, of the natural dust sample plays a significant role in defining the nature of its interaction with the VOCs. In particular, an increase of uptake is observed with increasing Al/Si and Fe/Si elemental rations. Moreover, the dust-VOC interaction is evidenced as being highly impacted by relative humidity and temperature.Various interactions modes have been evidenced between dust and VOCs such as physisorption, chemisorption and reactive sorption depending on the chemical composition of the dust and the structure of the VOC. Depending on the interaction mode, heterogeneous processes can act as a sink of primary VOCs or even a soure of secondary oxygenated VOCs in the gas phase. This work emphasiez the contribution of heterogeneous processes to the atmosphere.

The ability to locate human remains, specifically in a forensic setting, is crucial to investigations. Research in the past two decades has identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the source of the decomposition odor. The study examined the headspace (area directly above) of decomposing remains, Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO) Pseudo Corpse Scents (formulations one and two), cadaveric blood, and decompositional fluid for target VOCs to which human remains detection (HRD) dogs could indicate. These samples were tested using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS) for the exact odor profile and compared to literature about VOCs present in decomposition. The author hypothesized that a series of seven target chemical compounds (carbon disulfide, hexanal, nonanal, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, styrene, and benzoic acid methyl ester) would be present when the headspace of all samples tested. Ideally, a synthetic compound that will better mimic human decomposition odor profile can be created to aid in the training of HRD dogs. There are some disadvantages to using dogs in the field, and the lack of standardization when training HRD dogs is a major one. By examining VOC profiles of different sources of decomposition, a core set of VOCs of human decomposition may be identified to aid in the standardization of training. Of the eight target compounds chosen from the literature, only two were found in any samples tested for this experiment, hexanal and nonanal found in pig heart, deer liver, as well as human muscle and epidermis. Acetic acid was identified in every sample with the exception of the control. Also, in accordance with the literature, putrescine and cadaverine were not found in any of the samples.

This thesis deals with the quality of the internal environment of wooden buildings, especially the quality of the indoor environment interior loaded VOC emissions. The main goal of this work is to analyze the influence of relative humidity constructions on the quality of the indoor environment in the region Mountains. As assessed buildings were elected four wooden buildings, one of which is a frame structure, the second is half-timbered, and the other two are made with timber construction.Sampling methodology VOC emissions from the interior of the investigation based on the standard DIN EN ISO 16000 1 and 5. Sampling polluted indoor air was performed using a membrane pump Gilian LFS - 113DC, the collected air samples were collected in metal sorption tubes that are filled with TENAX TA sorbent. Indoor Environmental Quality assessed based constructions of wood was monitored during one calendar year, with the influence of the season on emissions of VOC(Fall, Winter, Spring ).Part of this work was to also assess the impact of age of the building and its material composition on the emission of volatile organic compounds assessed based constructions of wood.Detected concentrations of VOCs elected representatives were subsequently compared with the limit concentration by the Ministry of Health Decree No. 6/2003 Coll. , Laying down the health limits of chemical, physical and biological indicators of residential rooms inside certain buildings.

No description available.

No description available.