Kinetic modeling of antimony(III) oxidation and sorption in soils

[Display omitted] •Extensive retention and oxidation of Sb(III) in two soils with contrasting properties.•Soil serve as a catalyst in promoting oxidation of Sb(III) even under anaerobic conditions.•Transport of Sb(III) is governed by sorption-oxidation process on soil surfaces.•The equilibrium-kinetic sorption and kinetic oxidation formulations successfully described Sb(III) reactions on soils. Kinetic batch and saturated column experiments were performed to study the oxidation, adsorption and transport of Sb(III) in two soils with contrasting properties. Kinetic and column experiment results clearly demonstrated the extensive oxidation of Sb(III) in soils, and this can in return influence the adsorption and transport of Sb. Both sorption capacity and kinetic oxidation rate were much higher in calcareous Huanjiang soil than in acid red Yingtan soil. The results indicate that soil serve as a catalyst in promoting oxidation of Sb(III) even under anaerobic conditions. A PHREEQC model with kinetic formulations was developed to simulate the oxidation, sorption and transport of Sb(III) in soils. The model successfully described Sb(III) oxidation and sorption data in kinetic batch experiment. It was less successful in simulating the reactive transport of Sb(III) in soil columns. Additional processes such as colloid facilitated transport need to be quantified and considered in the model.