Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies (BEST) Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
School of Biological and Environmental Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 May 1;21(9):3147. doi: 10.3390/s21093147.
Thousands of pollutants are threatening our water supply, putting at risk human and environmental health. Between them, trace metals are of significant concern, due to their high toxicity at low concentrations. Abandoned mining areas are globally one of the major sources of toxic metals. Nowadays, no method can guarantee an immediate response for quantifying these pollutants. In this work, a novel technique based on microwave spectroscopy and planar sensors for in situ real-time monitoring of water quality is described. The sensors were developed to directly probe water samples, and in situ trial measurements were performed in freshwater in four polluted mining areas in the UK. Planar microwave sensors were able to detect the water pollution level with an immediate response specifically depicted at three resonant peaks in the GHz range. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first time that planar microwave sensors were tested in situ, demonstrating the ability to use this method for classifying more and less polluted water using a multiple-peak approach.
数千种污染物正在威胁我们的水源，危害人类和环境健康。在这些污染物中，痕量金属由于其在低浓度下的高毒性而引起了人们的极大关注。废弃矿区是全球有毒金属的主要来源之一。如今，没有任何方法可以保证立即对这些污染物进行定量分析。在这项工作中，描述了一种基于微波光谱学和平面传感器的新型技术，用于实时原位监测水质。这些传感器是专门为直接探测水样而开发的，并在英国四个受污染的矿区的淡水中进行了现场试验测量。平面微波传感器能够立即检测到水污染水平，并在 GHz 范围内的三个共振峰处具体显示出响应。据作者所知，这是首次在现场测试平面微波传感器，证明了使用这种方法通过多峰方法对污染程度不同的水进行分类的能力。
