Advances in Coal Spectroscopy

The past decade has witnessed major advances in our understanding of the chemical composition, structure, and reactivity of the complex organic-rich fossil matter known as "coal. " Nevertheless, important scientific questions concerning molecular weight distributions, degree of crosslinking, typical duster sizes, type of interconnecting bridges, the possible role of a "mobile phase," and the nature of organic sulfur forms remain topics of heated debate. Moreover, there appears to be a notab...