Accumulation and mobilization of arsenate by Fe(III) polyions trapped in a Ca-polygalacturonate network

The role of Fe(III) stored at the soil-root interface in the accumulation of arsenate and the influence of citric acid on the As(V) mobility were investigated by using Ca-polygalacturonate networks (PGA). The results indicate that in the 2.5-6.2 pH range Fe(III) interacts with As(V) leading to the sorption of As(V) on Fe(III) precipitates or Fe-As coprecipitates. The FT-IR analysis of these precipitates evidenced that the interaction produces Fe(III)-As(V) inner-sphere complexes with either monodentate or bidentate binuclear attachment of As(V) depending on pH. In the 3.0-6.0 pH range, As(V) diffuses freely through the polysaccharidic matrix that was found to exert a negligible reducing action towards As(V). At pH 6.0 citric acid is able to mobilize arsenate from the As-Fe-PGA network through the complexation of the Fe(III) polyions that leads to the release of As(V).