Civil Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 5-16-2026

Abstract

The legacy of uranium mining affects many communities in the western United States, resulting in elevated levels of uranium in surface water. The ability to quickly and accurately detect uranium on site in affected communities can lead to real-time water quality analysis that informs risk assessment and remediation efforts. The objective of this work is to advance the application of biosensing technologies for the measurement of uranium in waters affected by mining legacy. The third chapter of this thesis compares ANDalyze by AlpHa Instruments, a commercially available uranium biosensor, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (an EPA-verified method for uranium detection). Results show that less agreement was observed between the methods in surface water samples collected in 2024 (-75.67 mean % difference) and 2025 (-126.96 mean % difference) compared to laboratory-made reference solutions (-6.75 mean % difference), likely due to the presence of interfering ions. The fourth chapter further investigates the effects of interfering ions, specifically calcium and carbonate, with equilibrium dialysis experiments to assess uranyl-aptamer binding using a uranyl-specific DNA aptamer. Calcium and carbonate are ions that have been detected in sites affected by uranium mining legacy in New Mexico, which can cause interference with uranium-DNA binding. The results of this research found that in waters at pH 8 with calcium and carbonate present, no binding was observed, indicating that the negative and neutral charge of Ca-U-CO3 complexes inhibit binding. Binding was seen in waters with and without calcium and carbonate at pH 5 (20.8-61.6% binding), where the UO22+ and U-OH positively charged complexes are predominant. The outcomes of this research provide relevant insights for the development of biosensors that can be used to measure uranium in waters affected by mining legacy and other anthropogenic activities.

Keywords

uranium, mining legacy, sensing, biosensors, uranium detection

Sponsors

National Science Foundation (Award No. 2318897, 2439853)

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Degree Name

Civil Engineering

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Civil Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Jose Cerrato

Second Committee Member

Anjali Mulchandani

Third Committee Member

Gabriel Lopez

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