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Phosphorus adsorption by sediment considering mineral composition and environmental factors

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Abstract

Sediment, composed of a complex assemblage of minerals, controls the fate and behaviour of P in aqueous environments and affects trophic status. In this study, P adsorption was studied on minerals including quartz, hematite, potassium feldspar, montmorillonite, kaolin, and calcite (i.e., the main components of sediment) and sediment from the Guanting Reservoir. A general formula for P adsorption was proposed that considers mineral composition through the component additivity method, also incorporating the effects of environmental factors, including the aqueous P concentration (Ce), pH, sediment concentration (S), and ionic strength (IS). The P adsorption capacity gradually decreased with increasing particle size, and the contributions from kaolin and montmorillonite to P adsorption were significant despite representing only a small fraction of sediment (with a maximum amount of P adsorption of 0.92 and 0.36 mg/g, respectively). The content of quartz accounted for approximately 40–60% of sediment; however, its P adsorption capacity was only 0.13 mg/g. These minerals exhibited different adsorption characteristics due to their different surface morphologies and lattice structures. Multivariable regression analysis was used to show that the amount of P adsorption was strongly correlated with Ce, followed by S, IS, and pH.

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The experimental data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Funding

This research was funded by the 111 Project (No. B18031) and China Three Gorges Corporation (No. 201903145).

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Author notes

  1. Xiaocui Li and Lei Huang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Hydro-science and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Xiaocui Li, Lei Huang & Hongwei Fang

  2. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Minghong Chen

  3. China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute, Beijing, 100120, China

    Zhenghui Cui

  4. China Three Gorges Corporation, Beijing, 100038, China

    Zhiyu Sun

  5. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409-1023, USA

    Danny Reible

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  1. Xiaocui Li
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Contributions

Xiaocui Li: Conceptualisation, writing of the original draft, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, visualization, and paper administration

Lei Huang: Writing of the original draft, formal analysis, conceptualisation, and paper administration

Hongwei Fang: Conceptualisation, writing, review, and editing, and paper administration

Minghong Chen, Zhenghui Cui, Zhiyu Sun, and Danny Reible: writing, review, and editing

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Correspondence to Lei Huang or Hongwei Fang.

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Highlights

• The adsorption properties of minerals are affected by surface morphology and lattice structures.

• Clay minerals greatly contribute to the P adsorption by sediment despite the low contents.

• The amount of P adsorption is strongly correlated with aqueous P concentration.

• A general formula of P adsorption is proposed considering mineral composition and environmental factors.

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Li, X., Huang, L., Fang, H. et al. Phosphorus adsorption by sediment considering mineral composition and environmental factors. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 17495–17505 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12206-9

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