Nanoenhanced materials for the remediation of mine spoils. Effect of nanomaterials to soil bacteroal diversity

Reclamation of mine spoils involves removing soil contaminants, enhancing soil quality and fertility. Ever since the commencement of industrial-scale mining of coal and other minerals, drastic environmental impacts have been recorded arising from both the mined lands and from the wastes left behind at the surface. Among the various methods and materials available, nano-materials based techniques have been considered as more potent for the purpose given their unique and distinctive properties. Such nanomaterials for mine soil reclamation include zeolites, zero-valent iron nanoparticles, iron oxides nanoparticles, phosphate-based nanoparticles, iron sulfide nanoparticles and C nanotubes. In this work such nanomaterials were prepared and tested for metal mine spoil soil reclamation. During the process several physico-chemical characteristics, agronomy potential and soil bacterial biodiversity were intensively screened and assessed. The over all objective of the project is to unravel the effect of nano materials on the soil bacterial communities in three different soil samples collected from derelict mine sites in Australia.