Aggregation of nanoscale iron oxyhydroxides and corresponding effects on metal uptake, retention, and speciation: II. Temperature and time

The aggregation and growth of nanosized particles can greatly impact their capacity to sorb and retain dissolved metals, thus affecting metal fate and transport in contaminated systems. Aqueous suspensions of synthesized nanoscale iron oxyhydroxides were exposed to dissolved Zn(II) or Cu(II) and aged at room temperature (∼20°C), 50°C, and 75°C for timeframes ranging from 0 to 96h before sorbed metal ions were desorbed by lowering the suspension pH. Atomic absorption spectroscopic analysis of supernatants both before and after the desorption step determined how temperature and time affect macroscopic metal uptake and retention capacities. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy analysis described the local binding environment of the sorbed/retained metals on the solid phase. With increasing aging temperature and time, the initial ∼5-nm oblong nanoparticles formed dense aggregates, lost reactive surface area, and retained progressively larger fractions of the initially-introduced Zn(II) and Cu(II) following the desorption step, with the copper species inhibiting the oriented aggregation of the nanoparticles into nanorods. Based on EXAFS analysis, the speciation of the sorbed metal species evolves with increasing time and temperature from surface-sorbed metal ions, which readily desorb and return to solution, to more strongly-bound, structurally-incorporated metal ions. These retained metals appear to associate intimately with the nanoparticle aggregates by substituting for iron in the nanoparticle lattice or by binding within nanoparticle aggregate pore spaces.