Release of phosphorous impurity from TiO2 anatase and rutile nanoparticles in aquatic environments and its implications

- Phosphorus (P) remains in pristine TiO2 nanomaterials introduced by synthesis.
- The released P was 5.01 g P/kg anatase (50 nm) in 2 h at pH 8.4.
- XANES data suggest that some dissolved P resorbs as a surface precipitate.
- Nanoparticles synthesized using P containing chemicals can be P pollution sources.

Phosphorus-bearing materials as an additive have been popularly used in nanomaterial synthesis and the residual phosphorus within the nanoparticles (NPs) can be of an environmental concern. For instance, phosphorus within pristine commercial TiO2 NPs greatly influences the surface charge and aggregation behavior of the host TiO2 in aquatic environments; however, it is unknown whether and how fast phosphorus is released. In this study, we focus on the phosphorus release kinetics from five types of TiO2 NPs (i.e., 5, 10, and 50 nm anatase and 10 × 40, 30 × 40 nm rutile) under the influence of varying solution chemistries. The 50 nm anatase has the highest quantity of P (8.05 g/kg) and most leachable P dissolves within the first 2 h (i.e., 5.01 g/kg), which presents a potential pollutant source of P. Higher pH favors the phosphorus release (release order: pH 11.2 > pH 8.2 > pH 2.4), while variations in the environmentally relevant ionic strengths (0.01 M NaCl + 0.01 M NaHCO3 and 0.04 M NaCl + 0.01 M NaHCO3) and the presence of dissolved natural organic matter (10 mg/L) do not affect release rate greatly. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure results suggest that phosphate adsorbed on the pristine 50 nm anatase desorbs, and some dissolved phosphate again re-sorbs as a surface precipitate. The findings from this research may have important environmental implications such as accidental release of TiO2 NPs and other nanomaterials that are synthesized using phosphorus containing chemicals as an ingredient.

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