Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a key component in the biogeochemical cycling in freshwater ecosystem. However, it has been rarely explored, particularly complex river watershed dominated by natural and anthropogenic sources, such as various effluent facility and livestock. The current research developed a new analytical method for TOC/TN (Total Organic Carbon/Total Nitrogen) stable isotope ratio, and distinguish DOM source using stable isotope value (δ13C-DOC) and spectroscopic indices (fluorescence index [FI] and biological index [BIX]). The TOC/TN-IR/MS analytical system was optimized and precision and accuracy were secured using two international standards (IAEA-600 Caffein, IAEA-CH-6 Sucrose). As a result of controlling the instrumental conditions to enable TOC stable isotope analysis even in low-concentration environmental samples (<1 mgC L-1), the minimum detection limit was improved. The 12 potential DOM source were collected from watershed, which includes top-soils, groundwater, plant group (fallen leaves, riparian plants, suspended algae) and effluent group (pig and cow livestock, agricultural land, urban, industry facility, swine facility and wastewater treatment facilities). As a result of comparing characteristics between 12 sources using spectroscopic indices and δ13C-DOC values, it were divided into four groups according to their characteristics as a respective DOM sources. The current study established the TOC/TN stable isotope analyses system for the first time in Korea, and found that spectroscopic indices and δ13C-DOC are very useful tool to trace the origin of organic matter in the aquatic environments through library database.

Deuterium is a crucial clean energy source required for nuclear fusion and is a future resource needed in various industries and scientific fields. However, it is not easy to enrich deuterium because the proportion of deuterium in the hydrogen mixture is scarce, at approximately 0.016%. Furthermore, the physical and chemical properties of the hydrogen mixture and deuterium are very similar. Therefore, the efficient separation of deuterium from hydrogen mixtures is often a significant challenge when using modern separation technologies. Recently, to effectively separate deuterium, studies utilizing the ‘Kinetic Quantum Sieving Effect (KQS)’ of porous materials are increasing. Therefore, in this review, two different strategies have been discussed for improving KQS efficiency for hydrogen isotope separation performance using nanoporous materials. One is the gating effect, which precisely controls the aperture locally by adjusting the temperature and pressure. The second is the breathing phenomenon, utilizing the volume change of the structure from closed system to open system. It has been reported that efficient hydrogen isotope separation is possible using these two methods, and each of these effects is described in detail in this review. In addition, a specific-isotope responsive system (e.g., 2nd breathing effect in MIL-53) has recently been discovered and is described here as well.