Synergistic role of different soil components in slow sorption kinetics of polar organic contaminants.

Jian Zhao, Zhenyu Wang, Saikat Ghosh, Baoshan Xing

Index: Environ. Pollut. 184 , 123-30, (2014)

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Abstract

We observed that the sorption kinetics of nitrobenzene and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (two model polar compounds) was significantly slower than that of 1,4-dichlorobenzene and phenanthrene (two model apolar compounds). The difference was attributable to the strong non-hydrophobic interactions between the polar molecules and soil. Interestingly, sorption kinetics of the polar sorbates to the soil organic matter-free soil, humic/fulvic acid-free soil, and extracted humic acids was very fast, indicating that different soil components played a synergetic role in the observed slow kinetics. We propose that slow sorption kinetics of highly polar sorbates stems mainly from the strong specific interactions (H-bonding, electron donor-acceptor interactions, etc.) with humic/fulvic acids; such specific interactions occur when sorbate molecules diffuse through humic/fulvic acids coiled, in relatively compressed confirmations, within the complex, tortuous, and porous soil matrices formed by mineral grains/particles and soil organic matter. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.