Sorption and Abiotic Redox Transformation of Nitrobenzene at the Smectite-Water Interface

The effect of the redox state of structural Fe on the surface reactivity of iron-bearing phyllosilicates in aqueous suspension was investigated using a molecular probe. For this purpose the structural Fe in montmorillonite and ferruginous smectite was chemically reduced by sodium dithionite in citrate-bicarbonate (CB) buffer solution under N(2) at 70 degrees C, with the excess reactants removed by washing and centrifugation. Nitrobenzene was chosen as an electron acceptor probe to react with unaltered and chemically reduced smectites. Nitrobenzene was transformed into aniline only in the presence of the reduced smectites. This abiotic reductive transformation depended on the concentration of the electron acceptor in solution and the total accessible structural Fe(II) in smectites. As much as 40% of the crystal layer structural Fe(II) of the reduced smectites was oxidized to Fe(III); these electrons migrated to the surfaces/edges and then were transported into the adjacent aqueous layer. No significant effect of the oxidation state of structural Fe on the sorption of nitrobenzene on smectites was observed, but the reduced smectites sorbed less aniline than the unaltered smectites. The electronic structure and molecular geometry of the probe were modified within the smectite-water interface. Reducing structural Fe in smectites perturbed the surface reactivity. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.