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Effects of ionic surfactants on the aggregate stability and water repellency of silt loam soil

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

With the increase of surfactant usages, more and more concerns were paid on their effects on the physicochemical characteristics of soils. Up to now, only few researches have examined the effects of ionic surfactants on the stability of soil structure and soil water repellency.

Materials and methods

Cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as cationic surfactant and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as anionic surfactant were adopted to investigate their effects on the aggregate stability and water repellency of a silt loam soil which was sampled in Corn High-Tech Park, Huang-Huai-Hai region, China. (1) Aggregate stability: 50 g soil was mixture with 100 mL surfactant solution in a beaker. The concentrations of surfactant solutions were 0 (the blank), 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, and 2000 mg L−1, respectively. After 30 min, the soil was sieved and divided into four fraction aggregates. (2) Soil water repellency: the concentrations of surfactant solutions were the same as experiment 1. Forty grams of soil was blended with 80 mL surfactant solution in an aluminum specimen. Drying the water by oven of 40 °C firstly and then by air, the whole period was about 1 week. After that, soil water infiltration and sorptivity were measured.

Results and discussion

Compared to the blank, surfactants increased the amounts of 2–0.25 and <0.053 mm aggregates of the soil and decreased the amounts of 0.25–0.053 mm aggregates of the soil. Surfactants also increased the mean weight diameter (MWD) of the soil. Except the 200 mg L−1 treatment, CTAB promoted the soil water infiltration. All SDS treatments impeded the soil water infiltration. The soil repellency factor (R) value of the blank was 1.22, lower than the critical value of 1.95, which implied that the soil of blank treatment was free of soil water repellency. For CTAB, only 200 and 400 mg L−1 treatment’s R were higher than 1.95 while for SDS, all the treatment’s R were higher than 1.95.

Conclusions

Surfactants improved the stability of soil aggregates. Soil treated with CTAB did not show the repellency, whereas SDS treatment resulted in intense water repellency compared with the wettable blank soil. Findings of this study can be used to explain the role of ionic surfactants on soil structure stability as well as on the development of water repellency in lower soil depths.

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Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (2012370212003), Ministry of Education, China, and 54th China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Projects (2013M540562).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer, College of Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, 271018, China

    Xingchao Qi, Yanli Liu, Min Zhang & Chengliang Li

  2. Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Bin Gao

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  1. Xingchao Qi
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  2. Yanli Liu
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  3. Min Zhang
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  4. Bin Gao
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  5. Chengliang Li
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Correspondence to Chengliang Li.

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Responsible editor: Rainer Horn

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Qi, X., Liu, Y., Zhang, M. et al. Effects of ionic surfactants on the aggregate stability and water repellency of silt loam soil. J Soils Sediments 17, 2438–2448 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1686-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1686-4

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