Kinetics of Molybdenum Adsorption and Desorption in Soils

Much uncertainty exists in mechanisms and kinetics controlling the adsorption and desorption of molybdenum (Mo) in the soil environment. To investigate the characteristics of Mo adsorption and desorption and predict Mo behavior in the vadose zone, kinetic batch experiments were performed using three soils: Webster loam, Windsor sand and Mahan sand. Adsorption isotherms for Mo were strongly nonlinear for all three soils. Strong kinetic adsorption of Mo by all soils was also observed, where the rate of retention was rapid initially and was followed by slow retention behavior with time. The time-dependent Mo sorption rate was not influenced when constant pH was maintained. Desorption or release results indicated that there were significant fractions of Mo that appeared to be irreversible or slowly reversibly sorbed by Windsor and Mahan. X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) analysis for Windsor and Mahan soils indicated that most of Mo had been bound to kaolinite, whereas Webster had similar XANES features to those of Mo sorbed to montmorillonite. A sequential extraction procedure provided evidence that a significant amount of Mo was irreversibly sorbed. A multireaction model (MRM) with nonlinear equilibrium and kinetic sorption parameters was used to describe the adsorption-desorption kinetics of Mo on soils. Our results demonstrated that a formulation of MRM with two sorption sites (equilibrium and reversible) successfully described Mo adsorption-desorption data for Webster loam, and an additional irreversible reaction phase was recommended to describe Mo desorption or release with time for Windsor and Mahan soils.