Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Phosphate adsorption on uncoated and humic acid-coated iron oxides

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Soils and Sediments Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The phosphate adsorption on natural adsorbents is of particular importance in regulating the transport and bioavailability of phosphates in environmental system. In soils, oxides are often associated with organic matter and form mineral-organic complexes. The aim of the present paper was to investigate the mechanisms of phosphate adsorption on these complexes.

Materials and methods

Phosphate adsorption on uncoated and humic acid (HA)-coated iron oxide complexes was investigated at different ionic strengths and pH by isotherm experiments and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy.

Results and discussion

Results showed that HA-coated iron oxide complexes caused a decrease in the specific surface area (SSA) and the isoelectric point (IEP) of oxides. Phosphate adsorption on iron oxides was insensitive to changes of ionic strength, while it increased on the complexes with increasing ionic strength. The presence of HA decreased the maximum adsorption and the affinity of phosphate on the complexes. The zeta potential of phosphate-bound iron oxides linearly reduced with the increment of phosphate surface coverage, while the zeta potential of complexes with adsorbed phosphate kept at the same level. ATR-FTIR analysis suggested the formation of phosphate-metal complexation. The presence of HA promotes the formation of the monodentate phosphate complexes at pH 4.5 and significantly influenced phosphate species at pH 8.5.

Conclusions

The amount of phosphate adsorbed was reduced, and the phosphate speciation was also influenced when phosphate was adsorbed on HA-coated iron oxide complexes compared with phosphate adsorption on pure goethite and hematite.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antelo J, Avena M, Fiol S, López R, Arce F (2005) Effects of pH and ionic strength on the adsorption of phosphate and arsenate at the goethite-water interface. J Colloid Interface Sci 285:476–486

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Antelo J, Arce F, Avena M, Fiol S, López R, Macías F (2007) Adsorption of a soil humic acid at the surface of goethite and its competitive interaction with phosphate. Geoderma 138:12–19

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson RJ, Posner AM, Quirk JP (1967) Adsorption of potential-determining ions at the ferric oxide-aqueous electrolyte interface. J Phys Chem 71:550–558

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barrow NJ, Bowden JW, Posner AM, Quirk JP (1980) Describing the effects of electrolyte on adsorption of phosphate by a variable charge surface. Aust J Soil Res 18:395–404

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Borggaard OK, Raben-Lange B, Gimsing AL, Strobel BW (2005) Influence of humic substances on phosphate adsorption by aluminum and iron oxides. Geoderma 127:270–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elzinga E, Kretzschmar R (2013) In situ ATR-FTIR spectroscopic analysis of the co-adsorption of orthophosphate and Cd(Π) onto hematite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 117:53–64

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elzinga E, Sparks DL (2007) Phosphate adsorption onto hematite: an in situ ATR-FTIR investigation of the effects of pH and loading level on the mode of phosphate surface complexation. J Colloid Interface Sci 308:53–70

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fu HB, Quan X (2006) Complexes of fulvic acid on the surface of hematite, goethite, and akaganeite: FTIR observation. Chemosphere 63:403–410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fu ZY, Wu FC, Song K, Lin Y, Bai YC, Zhu YR, Giesy JP (2013) Competitive interaction between soil-derived humic acid and phosphate. Appl Geochem 36:125–131

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Grøn C, Raben-Lange B (1992) Isolation and characterization of a haloorganic soil humic acid. Sci Total Environ 113:281–286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan XH, Shang C, Chen GH (2006) Competitive adsorption of organic matter with phosphate on aluminum hydroxide. J Colloid Interface Sci 296:51–58

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ha J, Yoon TH, Wang Y, Musgrave CB, Jr Brown GE (2008) Adsorption of organic matter at mineral/water interface: 7. ATR-FTIR and quantum chemical study of lactate interactions with hematite nanoparticles. Langmuir 24:6683–6692

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang X (2004) Intersection of isotherms for phosphate adsorption on hematite. J Colloid Interface Sci 171:296–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iglesias A, Lopez R, Gondar D, Antelo J, Fiol S, Arce F (2010a) Adsorption of paraquat on goethite and humic acid-coated goethite. J Hazard Mater 183:664–668

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iglesias A, Lopez R, Gondar D, Antelo J, Fiol S, Arce F (2010b) Adsorption of MCPA on goethite and humic acid-coated goethite. Chemosphere 78:1403–1408

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kubicki JD, Paul KW, Kabalan L, Zhu Q, Mrozik MK, Aryanpour M, Pierre-Louis AM, Strongin DR (2012) ATR-FTIR and density functional theory study of the structures, energetics, and vibrational spectra of phosphate adsorbed onto goethite. Langmuir 28:14573–14587

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li L, Stanforth R (2000) Distinguishing adsorption and surface precipitation of phosphate on goethite (α-FeOOH). J Colloid Interface Sci 230:12–21

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luengo C, Brigante M, Antelo J, Avena M (2006) Kinetics of phosphate adsorption on goethite: comparing batch adsorption and ATR-IR measurements. J Colloid Interface Sci 300:511–518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer LM, Xing B (2001) Organic matter-surface area relationships in acid soils. Soil Sci Soc Am J 65:250–258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mikutta C, Lang F, Kaupenjohann M (2006) Kinetics of phosphate sorption to polygalacturonate-coated goethite. Soil Sci Soc Am J 70:541–549

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Satio T, Koopal LK, Van Riemsdijk WH, Nagasaki S, Tanaka S (2004) Adsorption of humic acid on goethite: isotherms, charge adjustments, and potential profiles. Langmuir 20:689–700

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwertmann U, Cornell RM (1991) Iron oxides in the laboratory: preparation and characterization. Weinheim, VCH Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuai XF, Zinati G (2009) Proton charge and adsorption of humic acid and phosphate on goethite. Soil Sci Soc Am J 73:2013–2020

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tejedor-Tejedor MI, Anderson MA (1990) Protonation of phosphate on the surface of goethite as studied by CIR-FTIR and electrophoretic mobility. Langmuir 6:602–611

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Zhu J, Fu QL, Hu HQ (2015) Adsorption of phosphate on pure and humic acid coated ferrihydrite. J Soils Sediments 15:1500–1509

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weng LP, Van Riemsdijk WH, Hiemstra T (2007) Adsorption of humic acids onto goethite: effects of molar mass, pH and ionic strength. J Colloid Interface Sci 314:107–118

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weng LP, Van Riemsdijk WH, Hiemstra T (2008) Humic nanoparticles at the oxide-water interface: interactions with phosphate ion adsorption. Environ Sci Technol 42:8747–8752

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wilfert P, Kumar PS, Korving L, Witkamp GJ, van Loosdrecht MCM (2015) The relevance of phosphorus and iron chemistry to the recovery of phosphorus from wastewater: a review. Environ Sci Technol 49(16):9400–9414

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong B, Stanforth R, Wu SN, Chen JP (2007) Proton interaction in phosphate adsorption onto goethite. J Colloid Interface Sci 308:40–48

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou YL, Zhang YB, Li P, Li GH, Jiang T (2014) Comparative study on the adsorption interactions of humic acid onto natural magnetite, hematite and quartz: effect of initial HA concentration. Powder Technol 25:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu J, Pigna M, Cozzolino V, Caporale AG, Violante A (2010) Competitive sorption of copper (Π), chromium (Ш) and lead (Π) on ferrihydrite and two organomineral complexes. Geoderma 159:409–416

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41071165 and 30890130) for the financial support to the research. Thanks to Dr. Edward C. Mignot, Shandong University, for the linguistic advice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtse River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Hui Wang, Jun Zhu, Qingling Fu, Can Hong & Hongqing Hu

  2. Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei, 230031, China

    Hui Wang

  3. Department of Soil, Plant, Environment and Animal Production Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via University 100, 80055, Portici Naples, Italy

    Antonio Violante

Authors
  1. Hui Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jun Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Qingling Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Can Hong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hongqing Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Antonio Violante
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hongqing Hu.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Zhenli He

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, H., Zhu, J., Fu, Q. et al. Phosphate adsorption on uncoated and humic acid-coated iron oxides. J Soils Sediments 16, 1911–1920 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1383-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1383-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation