Flow microcalorimetry was used to investigate the energetics associated with Rb+, K+, Na+, Cl–, and NO3– exchange at the rutile–water interface. Heats of exchange reflected differences in bulk hydration/dehydration enthalpies (Na+ > K+ > Rb+, and Cl– > NO3–) such that exchanging Na+ or Cl– from the surface was exothermic, reflecting their greater bulk hydration enthalpies. Exchange heats were measured at pH 2, 3.25, 5.8, and 11 and exhibited considerable differences as well as pH dependence. These trends were rationalized with the aid of a molecularly constrained surface complexation model (SCM) that incorporated the inner-sphere binding observed for the cations on the rutile (110) surface. Explicitly accounting for the inner-sphere binding configuration differences between Rb+, K+, and Na+, as well as accompanying differences in negative surface charge development, resulted in much better agreement with measured exchange ratios than by considering bulk hydration enthalpies alone. The observation that calculated exchange ratios agreed with those measured experimentally lends additional credence to the SCM. Consequently, flow microcalorimetry and surface complexation modeling are a useful complement of techniques for probing the energetics associated with ion exchange and adsorption processes and should also serve to help validate molecular simulations of interfacial energetics.

•Chromate sorbs exothermically on iron oxides, forming mostly inner sphere complexes.•Surface structure drives the dominance of monodentate versus bidentate complexation.•Chromate inner sphere complexes were slowly but completely reversible.•DFT and microcalorimetry both indicated energetically heterogeneous surface sites.•Flow versus batch conditions may influence surface coverage and sorption kinetics.An approach to constructing comprehensive predictive models for contaminant interactions with mineral surfaces is to obtain multiples lines of evidence for surface properties and the types of complexes formed under different geochemical conditions. In this study, we used flow adsorption microcalorimetry (FAMC), attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR FTIR) spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study chromate complexation on ferrihydrite (FH) and hematite (HT). Under the experimental conditions used, chromate binds via an exothermic inner-sphere complexation on both surfaces, with similar enthalpy values that do not reveal dramatic differences in the sorption mechanism. Due to their underlying surface structure, FH favors more monodentate and HT more bidentate complexation. Chromate complexes were found by ATR and FAMC to be completely reversible, with substantially slower desorption compared to sorption. Both the FAMC and DFT indicated the presence of surface sites with different energetics, whereby lower surface coverages corresponded to higher enthalpies on both FH and HT. Both flow-based ATR and FAMC yielded different surface coverages than batch isotherms under the same conditions, highlighting the need to assess contaminant sorption under realistic conditions. Overall, this integrated approach proved to be an improved paradigm to study ion sorption on mineral surfaces.

Cations in natural solutions significantly impact interfacial processes, particularly dissolution and surface charge measurements for quartz and silica, which are amongst the most naturally abundant and technologically important solids. Thermodynamic parameters for cation-specific interfacial reactions have heretofore been mostly derived instead of directly measured experimentally. This work investigates the energetics of adsorption and exchange reactions of alkali metal (M+) and alkaline earth (M2+) cations with the quartz surface by flow adsorption microcalorimetry, in tandem with in-situ pH measurements. The magnitudes of the heats of adsorption and exchange were found to increase along the Hofmeister series i.e., Li+ < Na+ < K+ < Rb+ < Cs+ and Mg2+ < Ca2+ < Sr2+ < Ba2+, and exhibited strong correlations to bulk cation hydration enthalpies (ΔHhyd). These results suggest inner-sphere adsorption for all studied cations and highlight the role ΔHhyd plays in rationalizing these reactions and controlling their net overall enthalpy. pH measurements demonstrate that quartz surface charge will vary depending on the cation present, as is well known for amorphous forms of silica. Along with calorimetric signals, pH data revealed kinetic differences between the adsorption and desorption reactions of M+ and M2+, and individual cations within each group.Download high-res image (113KB)Download full-size image