Environmental Colloids And Particles: Behaviour, Separation

Description:
This text presents the current knowledge of environmental colloids and includes reviews of the current understanding of structure, role and behaviour of environmental colloids and particles, whilst focussing directly on aquatic systems and soils. In addition, there is substantial critical assessment of the techniques employed for the sampling, size fractionation and characterisation of colloids and particles. Chemical, physical and biological processes and interactions involving colloids are described, and particular attention is paid to quantitative approaches that take account of particle heterogeneity and polydispersity. * Presents critical reviews of the state-of-the-art knowledge of environmental colloids * Critical assessment of techniques employed for the sampling, size fractionation and characterisation of colloids and particles are given * Theoretical and experimental aspects of the methods as well as the required developments and possible recommendations are discussed * Each chapter gives a brief introduction general enough for the non-specialist * Written by a internationally recognized group of contributors

Review:
'...as an editor I am impressed by the contributors' knowledge and citation of the literature. ' (Journal of Hazardous Metals, July 2007)

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors. Series Preface. Preface. 1 Environmental Colloids and Particles: Current Knowledge and Future Developments (Jamie R. Lead and Kevin J. Wilkinson). 2 Colloidal Properties of Submicron Particles in Natural Waters (Montserrat Filella). 3 Colloid-Trace Element Interactions in Aquatic Systems (Frederic J. Doucet, Jamie R. Lead and Peter H. Santschi). 4 Ultrafiltration and its Applications to Sampling and Characterisation of Aquatic Colloids (Laodong Guo and Peter H. Santschi). 5 Characterisation of Aquatic Colloids and Macromolecules by Field-flow Fractionation (Martin Hassell ov, Frank von der Kammer and Ronald Beckett). 6 Modern Electrophoretic Techniques for the Characterisation of Natural Organic Matter (Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin and Jens Junkers). 7 Electrophoresis of Soft Colloids: Basic Principles and Applications (Jerome F. L. Duval). 8 Strategies and Advances in the Characterisation of Environmental Colloids by Electron Microscopy (Denis Mavrocordatos, Didier Perret and Gary G. Leppard). 9 Force Microscopy and Force Measurements of Environmental Colloids (Eric Balnois, Georg Papastavrou, and Kevin J. Wilkinson). 10 Laser Scanning Microscopy for Microbial Flocs and Particles (John R. Lawrence and Thomas R. Neu). 11 Study of Environmental Systems by Means of Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (Nicolas Fatin-Rouge and Jacques Buffle). 12 Laser-induced Breakdown Detection (Jae-il Kim and Clemens Walther). 13 Probing Environmental Colloids and Particles with X-rays (Jean-Francois Gaillard). Index.

Author Biography:
Professor Kevin J. Wilkinson, CABE, Dept. of Analytical, Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland Research Interests include Aggregate formation mechanisms, Bioavailability studies, Determination of biopolymer conformations, concentrations and roles, and Field studies. Dr Jamie Lead, Lecturer, Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK Dr Lead obtained a BSc. in Environmental Science in the School of Chemical and Molecular Sciences at the University of Sussex in 1990. After a year out of academia, he moved to Lancaster University where he completed a PhD on the role of humic substances in the chemistry of lanthanides and actinides in freshwaters and soils in 1994.