Interfacial dissolution-reprecipitation: a pathway for durable immobilization of inorganic pollutants in water

Adsorption and coprecipitation are widely used to remove inorganic contaminants from water, but a decrease in aqueous contaminant concentration does not necessarily translate into durable sequestration. Interfacial dissolution-reprecipitation offers a mineral-transformation pathway in which dissolution of a parent phase is coupled with the formation of secondary mineral products. During this process, dissolved or surface-bound contaminants can be transferred into secondary mineral phases or retained within the transforming host. This review clarifies the mechanistic boundaries between dissolution-reprecipitation and conventional adsorption and coprecipitation, and examines representative applications in inorganic contaminant sequestration. Particular attention is given to the structural and spectroscopic approaches for identifying contaminant-bearing products, particularly poorly crystalline phases. We further discuss the roles of contaminant chemistry, water-matrix complexity, product stability, and spatial confinement in determining sequestration efficiency and durability. This contaminant-centered perspective provides a mechanistic framework for harnessing mineral transformation for more durable immobilization of inorganic pollutants in water.