Thin film electrochemical sensor for water quality monitoring : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand

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dc.confidentialEmbargo : No
dc.contributor.advisorArif, Khalid
dc.contributor.authorLal, Kartikay
dc.date.accessioned2024-04-09T01:07:49Z
dc.date.available2024-04-09T01:07:49Z
dc.date.issued2023-12-11
dc.description.abstractFreshwater is the most precious natural resource, essential for supporting life. Aquatic ecosystems flourish in freshwater sources, and many regions around the world depend on aquatic food sources, such as fish. Nitrogen and phosphorous are the two nutrients, in particular, that are essential for growth of aquatic plants and algae. However, with rising population and anthropogenic activities, excessive amounts of such nutrients enter our waterways through various natural processes, thereby degrading the quality of freshwater sources. Elevated levels of nitrate-nitrogen content, in particular, lead to consequences for both aquatic life as well as human health, which has been a cause for concern for many decades. As recommended by the World Health Organization, the maximum permissible nitrate level in water is 11.3 mg/L. These levels are often exceeded in coastal areas or freshwater bodies that are close to agricultural land. Therefore, it is essential to monitor nitrate levels in freshwater sources in real-time, which can be achieved by employing detection methods commonly used to detect ionic content in water. Hence, a comprehensive review was carried out on various field-deployable electrochemical and optical detection methods that could be employed for in-situ detection of nitrate ions in water. The primary focus was on electrochemical methods that could be integrated with low-cost planar electrodes to achieve targeted detection of nitrate ions in water. Designing resilient sensors for real-time monitoring of water quality is a challenging task due to the harsh environment to which they are subjected. There is a significant need for sensors with attributes such as repeatability, sensitivity, low-cost, and selectivity. These attributes were first explored by evaluating the performance of silver and copper materials on three distinct geometric patterns of electrodes. The experiments produced promising results with interdigitated pattern of copper electrodes that were successful in detecting 0.1-0.5 mg/L of nitrate ions in deionised water. The interdigitated geometric pattern of electrodes were further analyzed in four distinct materials namely, silver, gold, copper, and tin with real-world freshwater samples that were collected from three different freshwater bodies. The water samples were used to synthesize varying concentrations of nitrate ions. The results showed tin electrodes performed better over other materials for nitrate concentrations from 0.1-1 mg/L in complex matrix of real-world sample. The nitrate sensor eventually needs to be deployed in freshwater bodies, hence a real-time water quality monitoring system was also built that incorporated sensors to monitor five basic water quality parameters with the aim to monitor and study the quality of water around the local area.
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/69439
dc.publisherMassey Universityen
dc.rightsThe Authoren
dc.subjectWater qualityen
dc.subjectMeasurementen
dc.subjectWateren
dc.subjectAnalysisen
dc.subjectTechnological innovationsen
dc.subjectElectrochemical sensorsen
dc.subjectNitratesen
dc.subjectEnvironmental aspectsen
dc.subjectthin-filmen
dc.subjectelectrochemicalen
dc.subjectnitrateen
dc.subjectsensoren
dc.subject.anzsrc400906 Electronic sensorsen
dc.titleThin film electrochemical sensor for water quality monitoring : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealanden
thesis.degree.disciplineEngineering
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-abridgedMr. Lal conducted research on monitoring the quality of water with a focus on detection of nitrate in freshwater bodies. He conducted research into fabricating a low-cost sensor to carry out real-time monitoring of nitrate levels in freshwater bodies. He also studied how changes in weather would impact the detection efficiency of the sensor.
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-longLal, Kartikay - to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering. Mr. Lal conducted research on monitoring the quality of water with a focus on detection of nitrate in freshwater bodies. There is a significant need for robust field-deployable sensors. He conducted research into fabricating a sensor to carry out real-time monitoring of nitrate levels in water. Its performance was evaluated in freshwater, with successful detection of various levels of nitrate in freshwater. He further investigated how the quality of water is impacted by weather changes and how that would in-turn affect nitrate detection efficiency.
thesis.description.name-pronounciationCar tic kay
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