Mathematical Models of Competitive Adsorption of Inorganic Anions in Soils

Competition among anion species in solution for same sorption sites and soil surface can be of major significance in determining the effective mobility of any potentially adsorbing species. Major soil anion species include $OH^-$, $F^-$, $Cl^-$, $HCO_3{^-}$, $CO_3{^-}$, $NO_3{^-}$, $SO_4{^{2-}}$, and $PO_4{^{3-}}$. And some micro nutrients such as boron and molybdenum exist as $H_2BO_3{^-}$ and $MoO_4{^{2-}}$, as do some heavy metals such as chrome and arsenic as $CrO_4{^{2-}}$ and $HAsO_4{^{2-}}$. Pesticides such as 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D also exist as anions. Many anion species are retained by more complex mechanisms than the simple electrostatic attractions involved in most cation adsorption reactions. In binary system composed of two anions, the adsorption of one anion is influenced by the other anion due to the competition for the available and limited binding sites in soil constituents. The specifically adsorbed anions may compete more effectively for sorption sites than that of nonspecifically adsorbed anion. In this study, we aim to evaluate the mathematical models to determine the magnitude of concentration variations in adsorption due to competitive interactions between anions introduced to a system in binary mixtures.