Abstract-The application of terahertz spectroscopy to liquid petrochemicals detection: A review

Ming Yin^a, Shoufeng Tang^a* & Minming Tong<sup>a

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/05704928.2016.1141291?journalCode=laps20</sup>

Petrochemicals, one of the most important energy sources, contribute to the remarkable development of human civilization. Therefore, the development of a kind of fast, safe, reliable and nondestructive detection technology is essential. Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, containing abundant physical, chemical, and structural information of materials, shows significant applications in the fields of physics, chemistry, materials science, medicine, pharmacy and biology. As a promising detection technology, THz technology provides a new reliable analytic method in liquid petrochemicals detection due to the fact that low-frequency vibrational and rotational motions of hydrocarbon molecules lie in the terahertz region. In this article, we review the applications of the liquid petrochemicals detection based on the terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system, mainly containing the analysis of molecular properties, qualitative identification, quantitative analysis and the terahertz metamaterials sensing. In addition, we propose the further exploration of terahertz technology in the field of petrochemical industry.