An attenuated total reflectance IR study of silicic acid adsorbed onto a ferric oxyhydroxide surface

Silicic acid (H 4SiO 4) can have significant effects on the properties of iron oxide surfaces in both natural and engineered aquatic systems. Understanding the reactions of H 4SiO 4 on these surfaces is therefore necessary to describe the aquatic chemistry of iron oxides and the elements that associate with them. This investigation uses attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) to study silicic acid in aqueous solution and the products formed when silicic acid adsorbs onto the surface of a ferrihydrite film in 0.01 M NaCl at pH 4. A spectrum of 1.66 mM H 4SiO 4 at pH 4 (0.01 M NaCl) has an asymmetric Si–O stretch at 939 cm −1 and a weak Si–O–H deformation at 1090 cm −1. ATR-IR spectra were measured over time (for up to 7 days) for a ferrihydrite film (≈1 mg) approaching equilibrium with H 4SiO 4 at concentrations between 0.044 and 0.91 mM. Adsorbed H 4SiO 4 had a broad spectral feature between 750 and 1200 cm −1 but the shape of the spectra changed as the amount of H 4SiO 4 adsorbed on the ferrihydrite increased. When the solid phase Si/Fe mole ratio was less than ≈0.01 the ATR-IR spectra had a maximum intensity at 943 cm −1 and the spectral shape suggests that a monomeric silicate species was formed via a bidentate linkage. As the solid phase Si/Fe mole ratio increased to higher values a discrete oligomeric silicate species was formed which had maximum intensity in the ATR-IR spectra at 1001 cm −1. The spectrum of this species suggests that it is larger than a dimer and it was tentatively identified as a cyclic tetramer. A small amount of a polymeric silica phase with a broad spectral feature centered at ≈1110 cm −1 was also observed at high surface coverage. The surface composition was estimated from the relative contribution of each species to the area of the ATR-IR spectra using multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares. For a ferrihydrite film approaching equilibrium with 0.044, 0.14, 0.40 and 0.91 mM H 4SiO 4 the area of the spectra accounted for by monomeric species were 92%, 49%, 23% and 6%, respectively. The remainder was oligomer apart from a small amount (