Oxygen atom release during selenium oxyanion adsorption on goethite and hematite

Adsorption of selenium oxyanions (selenite and selenate) on soil minerals can mitigate Se ecotoxicity effects by removing Se from water resources. Se oxyanion surface complexation on Fe oxides have been investigated for decades using spectroscopic and surface complex modeling. Here, insights on the Fe-O-Se bonding process on goethite and hematite were gained via integrating our observed batch Se adsorption isotherms, H+ coadsorption with Se, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS)-derived surface complex geometry, surface complexation modeling, and 18O tracing across oxide and aqueous phases Adsorption extents of selenite and selenate on goethite and hematite decreased as pH increased from 3.0 to 7.0 and follows a corresponding decrease in positive zeta potential which offers less electrostatic attraction. Surface complexation geometry was determined with XAS results that indicated the formation of inner-sphere binuclear bidentate selenite complexes and outer-sphere selenate complexes on both oxides within the range of experimental conditions. These surface complexes were sufficient to model Se adsorption isotherms and H+ coadsorption on both oxides at pH 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 using the Charge Distribution Multi-site Complexation (CD-MUSIC) model. Inner-sphere bidentate selenite complex formation requires release of two O, and by tracing 18O release from 18O-enriched oxides to isotopically normal water, it was found that O release from the oxide surface accounted for 22% and 7% of total adsorption-induced O release for goethite and hematite, respectively, but only at pH 3.0. The remaining O release is assumed to be from adsorbed selenite. Selenate at pH 3.0 also induced a slight increase in 18O enrichment in bulk solution, which is unexpected for selenate's outer-sphere configuration that should produce no O ligand exchange, but instead highlights some spontaneous adsorption-induced oxide O release.