Proton interaction in phosphate adsorption onto goethite

The adsorption of phosphate on goethite is generally modeled by assuming a simple ligand exchange reaction with surface hydroxyl groups. This study investigates the binding forms of phosphate on goethite by evaluating the proton interaction and surface charge change during phosphate adsorption. It is found that OH− release stoichiometry increases with phosphate coverage, which suggests that different mechanisms predominate at different phosphate loadings. It demonstrates that surface binding changes from monodentate complexation to bidentate complexation with increasing surface phosphate coverage. The net OH− release accompanying this transformation is best interpreted with a 2pKa2pKa multisite model.

Graphical abstractComparison of measured slope k value with theoretical surface charge change in multisite model.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide