Effects of surface coatings on electrochemical properties and contaminant sorption of clay minerals

Surface charges play a major role in determining the interactions of contaminants with soils. The most important sources of soil charges are clay mineral colloids, whose electrochemical properties are usually modified by metal-oxides and organic matter in natural environments. In this study, effects of coatings of organic matter and Fe- and Al-oxides on a series of electrochemical properties and heavy metal sorption of three clay minerals (kaolinite, montmorillonite and illite) predominant in natural soils were investigated using batch techniques. The results indicate that the coatings increased the specific surface area of the clay minerals, except for the Al-oxide coated montmorillonite and organic matter coated 2:1 clay minerals. The sesquioxide coatings increased amount of positive charges but decreased negative charges. This causes great reduction of the negative potential on the clay surfaces, shift of the zero point of charge to a higher pH, and promotion of fluoride sorption due to presence of more OH- and OH2 on the oxide surfaces than on the clay surfaces. In contrast, the organic coating significantly increased the negativity of surface charges, and thus the zero point of charge and zeta-potential of the clays dropped down. The organic coating also induced a reduction of fluoride sorption on the clays. With respect to the sorption of lead and cadmium, the sesquioxide coatings produced insignificant effects. The experiments of lead/cadmium competitive sorption show that on both the oxide-coated surface and the original clay surface there exist different types of sites, each of which preferentially binds with a heavy metal. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.