Sorption of chlorimuron-ethyl on montmorillonite clays: effects of exchangeable cations, pH, and ionic strength

Sorption interaction of chlorimuron-ethyl with montmorillonite clays was investigated under varied types of exchangeable cation, pH, and ionic strength conditions. Chlorimuron-ethyl sorption on bentonites exhibited pronounced cation dependency, and the sorption ability increased as the sequence Ca(2+)- < Na(+)- < Al(3+)- < Fe(3+)-bentonite, due to different sorption mechanisms, whereas the cation dependency was influenced by the clay type and much weaker for montmorillonites. The decrease of pH at the range of 4.0-6.0 prominently increased sorption of chlorimuron-ethyl on all cation-exchanged montmorillonite clays, and nearly a neglected sorption (about 2 %) can be observed at pH over 7.0. In the presence of CaCl2, sorption of chlorimuron-ethyl on Fe(3+)-bentonite was promoted because of complexion of Ca(2+) and the surface of Fe(3+)-bentonite. However, as the concentration of CaCl2 increased, chlorimuron-ethyl sorption on Ca(2+)- and Fe(3+)-exchanged bentonite decreased, suggesting that Ca bridging was not the prevailing mechanism for sorption of chlorimuron-ethyl on these clays. Furthermore, chlorimuron-ethyl sorption was relatively sensitive to pH, and the change of pH may obscure effect of other factors on the sorption, so it was quite necessary to control pH at a constant value when the effect of other factor was being studied.