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Effect of the size of variable charge soil particles on cadmium accumulation and adsorption

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

The size of soil particles strongly affects the accumulation and adsorption of heavy metals which partly controls the co-transport of heavy metals by soil colloids. However, the effect of the size of soil particles on the accumulation and adsorption of heavy metals in the colloidal dimension has seldom been studied. In this study, variable charge soils were selected and separated into five size fractions to elucidate the effect of the size of soil particles on Cd accumulation and adsorption.

Materials and methods

Five soil particle size fractions (>10, 10–1, 1–0.45, 0.45–0.2 and <0.2 μm) were obtained from Cd-contaminated soil by natural sedimentation and fractional centrifugation. The concentrations and species of Cd were measured in various sized soil particles. Batch adsorption experiments of Cd on the obtained soil particles were conducted under different pH values and concentrations of NaCl.

Results and discussion

Generally, the concentration of Cd increased with decreasing soil particle sizes, and the Cd proportion of exchangeable and carbonate fraction decreased from 43.84 to 17.75% with decreasing particle size. The soil particles with a size of 10–1 and <0.2 μm possessed a stronger adsorption ability than the other fractions in most cases. Moreover, the Cd adsorption capacities of the soil particles increased with increasing pH values and decreasing concentrations of NaCl, especially for soil particles containing more organic matter (OM) and variable charge minerals.

Conclusions

Smaller soil particles are more capable of accumulating Cd and make Cd more stable. The adsorption capability of Cd is negatively related to the particle size and NaCl concentration and is positively related to the pH. The effects of the size of variable charge soil particles on Cd accumulation and adsorption are attributed to the differences in the physicochemical properties among various soil particle size fractions. This study contributes to the understanding of the co-transport of heavy metals in soil by soil colloids.

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Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Science Foundation for Innovative Research Group (NO. 51121003), Major State Basic Research Development Program (2013CB430405) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (21377013), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and the Public Sector Special Scientific Research Program of National Environmental Protection Ministry (201309049).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MLR Key Laboratory of Metallogeny and Mineral Assessment, Institute of Mineral Resources, CAGS, Beijing, 100037, China

    Guannan Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China

    Guannan Liu, Juan Wang, Jinbo Zhao, Jing Wang & Xinhui Liu

  3. Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Wei Xue

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  1. Guannan Liu
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  2. Juan Wang
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  3. Wei Xue
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  4. Jinbo Zhao
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  5. Jing Wang
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  6. Xinhui Liu
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Correspondence to Xinhui Liu.

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Responsible editor: Ravi Naidu

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Liu, G., Wang, J., Xue, W. et al. Effect of the size of variable charge soil particles on cadmium accumulation and adsorption. J Soils Sediments 17, 2810–2821 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1712-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1712-6

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