Simultaneous removal of four aflatoxins using magnetic nanobentonite as a green and fast sorbent: kinetic, thermodynamic, and isotherm investigation.

In the study, an adsorptive removal strategy as a straightforward and fast procedure was developed to remove four aflatoxins, including aflatoxin B1 (AF-B1), aflatoxin B2 (AF-B2), aflatoxin G1 (AF-G1), and aflatoxin G2 (AF-G2). A simple and green sorbent consisting of two components (activated nanobentonite and FeO nanoparticles) was synthesized based on three steps using acidic treatment, ultrasonic procedure, and chemical precipitation method. The sorbent was characterized by several techniques such as FTIR, FESEM, TEM, XRD, and VSM to determine the sorbent structure and morphology.

Different modelling approaches for predicting titanium dioxide nanoparticles mobility in intact soil media.

Understanding the transport behaviour of new and emerging materials such as engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) is vital for the accurate assessment of their functionality and fate in environmental systems. Predicting ENP mobility in soil systems based on common attributes of either soil or ENPs is of significant interest as an alternative to conducting laborious and time consuming column experiments. Thus this study investigates the importance of different soil properties and experimental conditions on titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nTiO) mobility in real soil media and also evaluates four different modelling approaches including Multiple Linear Regression (MLR), Classification and Regression Tree (CART), Random Forest (RF) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for predicting nTiO mobility in soil media.

Combined effects of polyacrylamide and nanomagnetite amendment on soil and water quality, Khorasan Razavi, Iran.

Nanotechnology is increasingly being used to remediate polluted soil and water. However, few studies are available assessing the potential of nanoparticles to bind surface particles, decrease erosion, and minimize the loading of water pollutants from agricultural surface discharge. To investigate this potential, we treated in situ field plots with two practical surface application levels of anionic polyacrylamide (PAM only) with and without nanomagnetite (PAM-NM), examined soil physical properties, and evaluated the impact of this amendment on contaminant sorption and soil erosion control.

Bioavailability of coated and uncoated ZnO nanoparticles to cucumber in soil with or without organic matter.

There is a gap of knowledge for the fate, effects and bioavailability of coated and uncoated ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in soil. Moreover, little is known about the effects of soil properties on effects of NPs on plants. In this study, the availability ZnO NPs in two soils with different organic matter content (one treated with cow manure (CM) and the other as untreated) was compared with their bulk particles.

In situ stabilization of As and Sb with naturally occurring Mn, Al and Fe oxides in a calcareous soil: bioaccessibility, bioavailability and speciation studies.

This study investigated the effectiveness of 6 different types of naturally occurring manganese, aluminum and iron oxides for stabilization of As and Sb in a calcareous soil spiked with 50mgkg(-1) of As or Sb and two dosages of treatments (2% and 5%). The resulting contaminated soils were subjected to a series of chemical extraction studies including sequential extraction, single step extraction with DTPA and Simplified Bioaccessibility Extraction Test (SBET) for estimation of bioaccessible fraction of As and Sb in soil and a greenhouse experiment using barley as the test crop. The results showed that Fe-associated and carbonate-bound fraction of As and Sb were predominant fractions.

Effects silver nanoparticles and magnetic field on growth of fodder maize (Zea mays L.).

Two experiments were done in 2008 and 2009 to study the effects of magnetic field and silver nanoparticles on fodder maize (Zea mays L.). These experiments were done with seven treatments based on a randomized complete block design in four replications.

Impact of bulk and nanosized titanium dioxide (TiO2) on wheat seed germination and seedling growth.

The impacts of different concentrations of bulk and nanosized TiO(2) on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat were studied in a randomized completely design with four replications in the College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, in 2011. The experimental treatments included five concentrations of bulk (1, 2, 10, 100, and 500 ppm), five concentrations of nanosized TiO(2) (1, 2, 10, 100, and 500 ppm), and control (without any TiO(2)). Results indicated that among the wheat germination indices, only mean germination time was affected by treatments.

Effect of Thiobacillus, sulfur, and vermicompost on the water-soluble phosphorus of hard rock phosphate.

Sulfur, organic matter, and inoculation with sulfur-oxidizing bacteria are considered as amendments to increase the availability of phosphorus from rock phosphate. The present study was conducted to evaluate the best combination of sulfur, vermicompost, and Thiobacillus thiooxidans inoculation with rock phosphate from Yazd province for direct application to agricultural lands in Iran. For such study, an experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement: Elemental sulfur originated from Sarakhs mine at three rates, 0% (S1), 10% (S2), 20% (S3), vermicompost at two rates, 0% (V1), 15% (V2), and inoculation without (B1) and with (B2) T.