Best Paper Award 2016 Environmental Science & Technology

Nicolas Walpen's paper introducing a flow injection analysis system coupled to electrochemical detection to quantify phenolics in dissolved organic matter was awarded the best Environmental Technology Paper 2016 by the editors of ES&T. Congratulations! In 2016, Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) published approximately 1600 papers in diverse fields encompassing the full spectrum of environmental quality research.

Besides introducing the technology, Nicolas applied the technique to determine total phenol contents in the pore waters and pool waters collected in ombrotrophic bogs in Värmland, Sweden. This work was motivated by the fact that phenolic compounds are believed to have inhibitory effects on microbial and enzymatic activities and thus are critical to slow organic matter turnover and hence carbon storage in these systems. Introducing oxygen to peatlands (e.g., during more frequent dry periods in a warming climate) may trigger oxidative removal of the phenolic compounds (which the technology can follow, as shown in the paper), resulting in decreased inhibition and thus ultimately carbon release from these systems.

Walpen, N., M. Schroth, M. Sander. Quantification of phenolic antioxidant moieties in dissolved organic matter by flow-injection analysis with electrochemical detection. Environ Sci Technol, 2016, 50, 6423-6432; external pageDOI Link

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