https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index en-au 5 https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:54991 Wed 27 Mar 2024 16:32:43 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:45126 Wed 26 Oct 2022 12:58:45 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:29511 Cucumis sativa L. (cucumber). The parameter log K_f was predicted with soil pH_ca, logCEC and log OC. Transfer of soil pore-water Cd²⁺ to shoots was described with a power function (R² = 0.73). The dataset was validated with 13 long-term contaminated soils (plus 2 control soils) ranging in Cd concentration from 0.2 to 300 mg kg⁻¹. The series of equations predicting Cd_shoot from pore-water Cd²⁺ were able to predict the measured data in the independent dataset (root mean square error = 2.2). The good relationship indicated that Cd uptake to cucumber shoots could be predicted with Cd_pore and Cd²⁺ without other pore-water parameters such as pH or Ca²⁺. The approach may be adapted to a range of plant species.]]> Wed 23 Feb 2022 16:06:46 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:42940 Wed 07 Sep 2022 15:23:30 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:44044 Wed 05 Oct 2022 15:39:22 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:43982 Wed 05 Oct 2022 14:29:39 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:48678 in situ assessment of vapour intrusion from VOC contamination. A solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) technique was applied for sample pre-concentration before the GC–MS​ measurement. Practical in-field soil gas SPME sampling methods have been developed to optimise the SPME extraction efficiency to then ultimately improve the detection limits of portable GC–MS. An Australian site impacted by a chlorinated VOC, trichloroethylene (TCE), was the subject of the case study. To rapidly assess soil vapour samples in subsurface soil, in-house-developed retractable soil vapour sampling probes (SVSPs) were installed at the site in clusters at depths of 1 m, 2 m and 3 m below ground level at each sampling location. Use of the SVSPs for sampling enabled the generation of a three-dimensional map and distribution contours for TCE concentrations using the in situ measurement results of a portable GC–MS analysis for vapour intrusion investigation. The results of the portable GC–MS​ analysis were compared with the results from conventional USEPA methods, such as TO-15 and Method 8265 for soil vapour and groundwater samples, respectively. This work demonstrates that the developed methodology of using a portable GC–MS system has the capability for in-field quantitative analysis of VOCs for rapid contaminated site vapour intrusion assessment.]]> Tue 28 Mar 2023 10:28:22 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:32559 Tue 19 Jun 2018 11:56:22 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:43123 Tue 13 Sep 2022 14:39:25 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:32679 Tue 10 Jul 2018 15:38:12 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:39474 Acacia inaequilatera, Acacia pyrifolia, Acacia stellaticeps, Banksia seminuda, Chloris truncata, Hakea prostrata, Hardenbergia violacea, and Triodia wiseana were transplanted in a soil contaminated with diesel and engine oil as TPH at pollution levels of 4,370 (TPH1) and 7,500 (TPH2) mg kg^-1, and an uncontaminated control (TPH0). After 150 days, the presence of TPH negatively affected the plant growth, but the growth inhibition effect varied between the plant species. Plant growth and associated root biomass influenced the activity of rhizo-microbiome. The presence of B. seminuda, C. truncata, and H. prostrata significantly increased the TPH removal rate (up to 30% compared to the unplanted treatment) due to the stimulation of rhizosphere microorganisms. No significant difference was observed between TPH1 and TPH2 regarding the plant tolerance and rhizoremediation potentials of the three plant species. The presence of TPH stimulated cluster root formation in B. seminuda and H. prostrata which was associated with enhanced TPH remediation of these two members of Proteaceae family. These results indicated that B. seminuda, C. truncata, and H. prostrata wild plant species could be suitable candidates for the rhizoremediation of TPH-contaminated soil.]]> Tue 09 Aug 2022 14:32:31 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:52782 Thu 26 Oct 2023 15:00:47 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:43512 Thu 02 Nov 2023 14:46:48 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:49207 Sun 07 May 2023 09:30:11 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:31300 Sat 24 Mar 2018 08:44:12 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:31400 Cucumis sativa L) conducting 4 weeks pot study in 5 different soils spiked with As (0, 2, 4, 8 to 1024 mg kg_{-1 ) individually and with Zn at two phytotoxic doses. The As pore-water concentration was significantly reduced (df = 289, Adjusted R² = 0.84, p < 0.01) in the presence of Zn in the whole dataset, whereas Zn and Zn²⁺ activity in pore-water was reduced significantly only in the two alkaline soils. This outcome may be due to adsorption/surface precipitation or tertiary bridging complexation. No homogenous precipitation of zinc arsenate could be established using electron microscopy, XRD or even equilibrium calculations. For bioaccumulation phase, no significant effect of Zn on As uptake was observed except acidic MG soil whereas, Zn uptake was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) by As in whole dataset. However, an additive response was observed mostly except acidic MG soil. The synergistic response (more than additive) was predominant in this soil for a wide range of inhibition concentration (0¿80%) at both Zn EC10 and EC50 levels. Since additive response is mostly considered in risk assessment for mixtures, precautions should be implemented for assessment of toxicity for As-Zn mixture in acidic soil due to their synergistic response in some soils.]]>} Sat 24 Mar 2018 08:43:26 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:27868 2+). Two kinds of clays were used. One was an acid-treated bentonite that had a specific surface area (SSA) of 395 m²/g and the other was natural palygorskite with a SSA of 87 m²/g. The materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The materials' ability to remove NH₃ was investigated using NH₃ breakthrough dynamic test while the strength of NH₃ retention was characterised by Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) coupled with FTIR. The results indicate that clay/poly-acrylic acid composites are highly efficient adsorbents of NH₃ after binding with Cu²⁺. Trapping NH₃ on such adsorbents can lead to colour change and this makes it possible to predict the lifetime of the adsorption bed visually. In addition, the result of NH₃ release from the material following adsorption showed that majority of the adsorbed NH₃ desorbed at temperature above 180°C. The clay/polymer composites can potentially be used in air filters. They may provide an effective and cheap way for removing NH₃ from contaminated air.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:41:12 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:29932 Cucumis sativa L) using 10 contrasting soils. Arsenate phytotoxicity was shown to be related to soluble carbonate and phosphate. The data indicated that dissolved phosphate and carbonate had an antagonistic impact on arsenate toxicity to cucumber. To predict arsenate phytotoxicity in soils with a diverse range of soil solution properties, both carbonate and phosphate were required. The relationship between arsenic and pore-water toxicity parameters was established initially using multiple regression. In addition, based on the relationship with carbonate and phosphate we successively applied a terrestrial biotic ligand-like model (BLM) including carbonate and phosphate. Estimated effective concentrations from the BLM-like parametrization were strongly correlated to measured arsenate values in pore-water (R² = 0.76, P < 0.001). The data indicates that an ion interaction model similar to the BLM for arsenate is possible, potentially improving current risk assessments at arsenic and co-contaminated soils.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:30:55 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:26475 -1), to simultaneously determinate multiple petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) in real mixture samples. This system includes: an object oriented baseline correction; Band decomposition (curve fitting) method with mathematical optimization; and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for determination, which is suitable for the characteristics of this IR regions, where the spectra are normally with low signal to noise ratio and high density of peaks. BTEX components are potentially lethal carcinogens and contained in many petroleum products. As a case study, six BTEX components were determinate automatically and simultaneously in mixture vapor samples. The robustness of the BTEX determination was validated using real petroleum samples, and the prediction results were compared with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:27:14 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:30570 Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:23:58 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:28211 in situmonitoring. This article outlines an application of the ET system to determine chloride (Cl) simultaneously, and multi cationic metal ions, including calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb). In this study, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied as a data compaction technique to reduce the complexity of data from the ISE array without losing much information. A patent data preprocessing method, geneticICA, was utilized to improve the prediction accuracy of ANN. Moreover, Orthogonal Experiment Design was employed for minimizing the number of training samples without losing any quality characteristics for the specific ions. Using our methodology means that results can be obtained rapidly and accurately without disturbing the natural speciation. The robustness and appropriateness of the approach were assessed using the mean relative error (MRE). When configured and optimized, the ET system can quantify the concentration of the four desired metals and chloride with the average MRE being lower than 0.10.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:23:51 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:24355 2+ was used to describe phytotoxicity of cucumber (Cucumis sativa L) in 10 contrasting soils at different soil Cu loadings. Both soil solution Cu (Cu_pw) and Cu²⁺ successfully described the response variable for all ten soils with R² values of 0.73 and 0.66, respectively. Separation of soils as acid and alkaline and fitting separately showed that there was a strongly significant fit for both log Cu²⁺ and log Cu_pw in acidic soils (R² = 0.92 and 0.86, respectively) but weakly significant fit for alkaline soils. The pCu EC₅₀ and EC₁₀ values in all acidic soils for cucumber were 5.83 (6.03–5.63) and 7.53 (8.27–7.00), respectively. In our dataset alkaline soils need to be treated individually. In addition, pCu could be predicted based on pH and total concentration alone. Despite only 12 weeks ‘ageing’ there was quantitative agreement between pCu model from this study and predicted pCu from Sauvé et al. This agreement from studies performed independently indicates that, at least in the case of Cu²⁺, the difference in an ageing period of ≥10 years appears minimal.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:10:17 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:37372 Mon 11 Mar 2024 17:41:40 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:36783 n). It was found there were two bands coherent to the doublet at location 2954 and 2872 cm⁻¹, respectively can be applied to identify the fraction of carbon chains. From C₂₀ to C₃₇, by the increase of the C_n, the intensities of the two bands were reduced as demonstrated. There were another two doublets existed at the region from 1480 to 1450 cm⁻¹ and the region at 750 and 730 cm⁻¹. It was observed the intensity of one coherent band at each of these regions was increased following the increase on the C_n. The bands center at 1462 and 730 cm⁻¹ were increased from C₂₀ to C₃₇. The intensity ratio of the coherent bands can be applied to identify the C_n. Successfully identify four different petroleum products with different fractions of carbon chains in soil samples, is evidence the theory can be applied to investigate the fraction of carbon chains in soil. Coupling with handheld FTIR, it is possible to rapidly estimate the dominant fraction of C_n in soil in field.]]> Mon 06 Jul 2020 09:25:42 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:51963 Fri 22 Sep 2023 17:18:13 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:50744 Fri 04 Aug 2023 08:32:45 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:36752 TM was developed for real-time measurement of multi-free ions in solution. The technique includes algorithms that have been developed to allow real-time measurement of a multitude of free ions simultaneously in solution. The ISE array system allows common ions: sodium (Na⁺), Potassium (K⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺), nitrate (NO₃⁻) and chloride (Cl⁻) to be measured in complex solution matrices. This is of value to agricultural irrigators and for monitoring water quality in lakes and streams. It can be adopted for the benefit of fertigation application, and water qualities are monitoring to ensure environmental protection authority (EPA) standards are achieved. The prediction accuracies of ISEs can be negatively impacted by pH, ionic strength and the interferences from other undesired ions. The ISE array system contained a self-developed algorithm to eliminate the interferences from the major ions existed in nature water. On the purpose of validating the prediction accuracy, 96 samples based on 22 different real water backgrounds were employed. Several chemicals were spiked into these samples for simulating the fertilizers and other water quality hazards. Based on the experiment results, it can be concluded that the system can strong ability to simultaneously determinate multi-free ions, regardless the pH, ionic strength and the interferences from major ions in nature water.]]> Fri 03 Jul 2020 09:40:42 AEST ]]>