**Meet the editors**

Dr. Nasser S. Awwad has an MSc in Inorganic and Radiochemistry 1997 from Benha University, a PhD in Inorganic and Radiochemistry 2000 from Ain Shams University, and a Postdoctorate at Sandia National Labs, New Mexico, USA, 2004. Nasser Awwad was Associate Professor of Radiochemistry in 2006 and Professor of Inorganic and Radiochemistry in 2011 at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority.

He has been a professor at King Khalid University (KKU), Abha, KSA, since 2011. He has published two chapters in the following books: *Natural Gas—Extraction to End Use* and *Advances in Petrochemicals.* He is the editor of four books on uranium, new trends in nuclear sciences, dyes in industry, and lanthanides; in addition, he has published 54 papers in ISI journals. He has supervised four PhD and 16 MSc students in the field of radioactive and wastewater treatment. He has participated in 25 international conferences in South Korea, the USA, Lebanon, KSA, and Egypt. Dr. Awwad has participated in six big projects with KACST at KSA and Sandia National Labs in the USA about the conditioning of radioactive sealed sources and wastewater treatment. He is the leader of a research group looking into the utilization of nanomaterials for the treatment of inorganic and organic pollutants and a member of a research group studying the influence of d- and f-block element interactions with indomethacin, bupivacaine, lidocaine, nadolol, procainamide, and procaine nonsteroidal drugs on its bioactivities. He is a member of the Arab Society of Forensic Sciences and Forensic Medicine and a member of the Egyptian Society for Nuclear Sciences and its Applications. He is on the editorial board of the *Journal of Energy and Environmental Research and Technology*. He is also a member of the organizing committee of the 9th World Congress & Expo on Nanotechnology & Material Science, a rapporteur of the Permanent Committee for Nuclear and Radiological Protection at KKU, and a member of the Committee for the Development of International Cooperation Management at KKU. He is interested in utilizing the different techniques related to treatment of lanthanides via master theses and groups of publications.

Ahmed T. Mubarak is currently a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and leader of the Catalysis Research Group at the Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. He is a member of the Saudi Chemical Society, Head of the Chemistry Department 2004–2008, Vice Dean of the Science Faculty 2008–2010, Dean of Research at King Khalid University 2011, and Vice Pres-

ident of King Khalid University for Research and Graduate Studies 2011–2015. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 1999 from Nottingham University, UK. He has authored and coauthored more than 50 articles in peer-reviewed and highly reputed ISI journals. He has also edited a few books and supervised and reviewed graduate students in both MSc and PhD degrees. He has participated in international and local conferences in the UK, USA, KSA, France and other countries. He is the main researcher in three big projects with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, KSA, and one project with SABIC, KSA, on metallocene catalysis used for polyethylene production. He works with collaborators/researchers with mutual interests from many institutes and universities. His research interests are primarily in the areas of catalysts and using different techniques related to environments and petrochemical treatment using catalysis at the nanoscale, the growth of varying forms of nanostructured materials and their basic characterization by XRD, SEM, TEM, spectrophotometric techniques towards the correlation nature of heterogenous catalysis and nanocatalysis, their properties, and applications.

Contents

**Preface VII**

**Section 1 Lanthanides and Environment 1**

**Uncertainty 27**

**Soil Health 49** Michael Aide

Dmitry V. Ladonin

**Section 2 Lanthanides and Algae 85**

Chapter 6 **Lanthanides and Algae 87**

Chapter 1 **Introductory Chapter: Lanthanides - A Quest for Solutions 3**

Chapter 2 **Perspective of Obtaining Rare Earth Elements in Poland 7**

Chapter 3 **Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Approach Used for Rare Earth**

Dariusz Sala and Bogusław Bieda

Chapter 4 **Lanthanide Soil Chemistry and Its Importance in**

Chapter 5 **Lanthanides in Soils of the Cherepovets Steel Mill 67**

Milada Vítová, Mária Čížková and Vilém Zachleder

Dorota Gajda and Grażyna Zakrzewska-Kołtuniewicz

**Elements (REEs) from Monazite Material, Considering**

**Understanding Soil Pathways: Mobility, Plant Uptake, and**

Katarzyna Kiegiel, Agnieszka Miśkiewicz, Irena Herdzik-Koniecko,

Ahmed T. Mubarak and Nasser S. Awwad
