Issue 10, 2022

Nano-scale investigation of organic C sequestration and distribution on Fe oxides during ferrihydrite transformation: effect of Al-substitution

Abstract

Iron (Fe) oxides are known to strongly interact with organic matter and play a vital role in soil organic carbon (C) stabilization. Poorly crystalline Fe oxides, such as ferrihydrite, can undergo a transformation process into more crystalline minerals, which is often accompanied by the presence of foreign elements, e.g., aluminum (Al), in natural environments. However, it is still unclear how the presence of Al affects the retention and the spatial distribution of organic C on Fe oxides during the Fe oxide transformation process. In this study, the sorption capacity of Al-substituted Fe oxides for organic C was quantified and the spatial distribution of organic C species was visualized at different aging times of Fe oxides. Spherical aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (Cs-STEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that the Al-substitution slowed down the ferrihydrite transformation rate and changed the transformation products from rhombus-shape hematite into shuttle- and disk-shape. Wet chemistry experiments showed that Al-substitution in ferrihydrite increased the sorption capacity of organic C during the transformation process. Electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) results demonstrated that the carboxyl C was preferentially sorbed onto the surfaces of Fe oxides, forming the inner layer of the organo–mineral interfaces, while the aromatic C was dominantly bound to the outer layer of the organo–mineral interfaces, which supported the layer-by-layer “onion” model of organic C accumulation on minerals. Overall, our results help to elucidate the mechanisms of organic C sequestration during the Fe oxide transformation process in the presence of Al, which would be helpful for predicting organic C cycling in natural environments.

Graphical abstract: Nano-scale investigation of organic C sequestration and distribution on Fe oxides during ferrihydrite transformation: effect of Al-substitution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 May 2022
Accepted
13 Sep 2022
First published
14 Sep 2022

Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2022,9, 4007-4017

Nano-scale investigation of organic C sequestration and distribution on Fe oxides during ferrihydrite transformation: effect of Al-substitution

F. Liu, Z. Ding, Y. Lu, R. Li and Z. Shi, Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2022, 9, 4007 DOI: 10.1039/D2EN00505K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements