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Adsorption and desorption for dynamics transport of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in soil column

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Abstract

Batch experiments have been carried out to study the adsorption of heavy metals in soils, and the migration and transformation of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in the soil of a vegetable base were studied by dynamic adsorption and desorption soil column experiments. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of initial concentration and pH value on the adsorption process of Cr(VI). Breakthrough curve were used to evaluate the capacity of Cr(VI) adsorption in soil columns. The results show that the higher the initial concentration, the worse the adsorption capacity of Cr(VI). The adsorption of Cr(VI) was strongly sensitive to pH value. The capacity of Cr(VI) adsorption is maximized at very low pH value. This may be due to changes in pH that cause a series of complex reactions in Cr(VI). In a strongly acidic environment, the reaction of Cr(VI) with hydrogen ions is accompanied by the formation of Cr3+, which reacts with the soil free iron-aluminum oxide to produce hydroxide in the soil. The results of the desorption experiments indicate that Cr(VI) is more likely to leach from this soil, but if the eluent is a strong acid solution, the leaching process will be slow and persistent. During the experiment, the pH value of the effluent was in the range of 7–8.5, which tends to the original pH value of the soil. It is indicating that the soil has a strong buffer on the acid liquid. The program CXTFIT was used to fit the breakthrough curve to estimate parameters. The results of the calculation of the dispersion coefficient (D) can be obtained by this program. The two-site model fit the breakthrough curve data of Cr(VI) well, and the parameters calculated by the CXTFIT can be used to explain the behavior of Cr(VI) migration and transformation in soil columns. When pH = 2, the retardation factor (R) reach at 79.71 while the value of the R is generally around 10 in other experiments. The partitioning coefficient β shows that more than half of the adsorption sites are instantaneous in this adsorption process and non-equilibrium affects the Cr(VI) transport process in this soil.

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Funding

This work is partly supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51209187, 41530316, and 91125024), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2016YFC0402805), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2652015116), and the Beijing Higher Education Young Elite Teacher Project (Grant No. YETP0653).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaowei Zhang, Juxiu Tong, Bill X. Hu & Wenshuo Wei

  2. Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaowei Zhang, Juxiu Tong, Bill X. Hu & Wenshuo Wei

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  1. Xiaowei Zhang
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  2. Juxiu Tong
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Correspondence to Juxiu Tong.

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Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

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Zhang, X., Tong, J., Hu, B.X. et al. Adsorption and desorption for dynamics transport of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in soil column. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 459–468 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0263-0

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