Premium
Selenite Adsorption Mechanisms on Pure and Coated Montmorillonite: An EXAFS and XANES Spectroscopic Study
Author(s) -
Peak Derek,
Saha U. K.,
Huang P. M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2005.0054
Subject(s) - montmorillonite , sorption , aluminosilicate , extended x ray absorption fine structure , xanes , chemistry , clay minerals , adsorption , aluminium hydroxide , mineral , inorganic chemistry , mineralogy , organic chemistry , absorption spectroscopy , spectroscopy , aluminium , physics , quantum mechanics , catalysis
Selenite (SeO 3 2− ) is an oxyanion of environmental importance due to its toxicity to animals at higher concentrations, notably waterfowl and grazing animals. Sorption of SeO 3 2− with mineral phases typically controls the movement and bioaccessibility of SeO 3 2− in soils and sediments. Previous studies have successfully utilized synchrotron‐based Extended X‐ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and X‐ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy to determine SeO 3 2− bonding mechanisms on Fe and Mn oxides, but the direct evidence of SeO 3 2− surface complexation mechanisms on important mineral phases such as Al hydroxide and aluminosilicate minerals is still lacking. In this study both EXAFS and XANES spectroscopy was conducted on aqueous SeO 3 2− solutions and on a variety of Al‐bearing sorption samples at pH 4.5. The sorbents chosen were a hydroxyaluminosilicate (HAS) polymer, a hydroxyaluminum (HYA) polymer, montmorillonite, and both HYA and HAS coated montmorillonite. For SeO 3 2− sorption on montmorillonite, only bidentate binuclear inner‐sphere complexation was observed. For the hydroxyaluminum and hydroxyaluminosilicate polymers, a mixture of outer‐sphere and bidentate binuclear inner‐sphere was observed. When montmorillonite was coated with either HYA or HAS polymers then adsorption behavior was intermediate between that of the mineral and the pure polymer. Since temperate soils often contain aluminum‐hydroxy and aluminosilicate coated minerals rather than discrete Al hydroxide minerals and pristine clay surfaces, the adsorption mechanisms observed on these coated surfaces are more realistic of the natural environment than sorption on pure minerals.