How do amorphous sesquioxides affect and contribute to butachlor retention in soils?

Purpose Sorption and desorption of butachlor were simultaneously investigated on synthesized pure amorphous hydrated Fe oxides (AHOs Fe), and soils both with and without surface coating of AHOs Fe, with special interest towards how amorphous sesquioxides affect and contribute to butachlor retention in soils. Materials and methods The AHOs Fe was artificially synthesized pure materials. Two soils with contrasting physicochemical properties selected for study were black soil and latosol, belonging to permanent charged soil and variable charged soil, respectively. Both soils were further treated using AHOs Fe for detecting the differentiation from native soils regarding butachlor retention produced after the soils were surface-coated by AHOs Fe. A sorption experiment was conducted using a batch equilibrium technique, and desorption was carried out immediately following sorption by three sequential dilution. Hysteresis index (HI) values were calculated to investigate desorption hysteresis by developing desorption isotherms concentration dependent and time dependent, respectively. Results and discussion The sorption capacity for butachlor increased in the order of AHOs Fe, uncoated soils, and soils with surface coating of AHOs Fe. The sorption capacity of both soils significantly increased after surface coating by AHOs Fe (p<0.01), with a bigger increase achieved by black soil (52.0 %) as compared with that by latosol (45.3 %). Desorption of butachlor was coincidently hysteretic on AHOs Fe, and soils both uncoated and coated, whereas variation in desorption hysteresis was different between AHOs Fe and soils with increasing butachlor sorption loading, indicating different sorption mechanisms were operative for AHOs Fe and soils across the entire butachlor concentration range. Hysteresis of butachlor desorption was weakened after the soils were surface coated by AHOs Fe, as suggested by the changed HI values. Conclusions With high specific surface area and highly reactive surfaces, the active AHOs Fe originally has a relatively high sorption capacity and affinity for butachlor. While in natural soils, where the inevitable association derived from soil organic matter (SOM) would restrain AHOs Fe from sequestrating butachlor directly, AHOs Fe may likely contribute in a mediator way by coordinating active sites both on and within SOM. This may enhance the availability of sorption domains both on and within soils, thereby achieved an enhanced but more reversible retention for butachlor in soils after their surfaces were coated by AHOs Fe. This study has extended the observations of the role of noncrystalline sesquioxides in retention of pesticides such as butachlor from pure clay mineral systems to natural soils.