The role of Fe oxyhydroxide coating, illite clay, and peat moss in nanoscale titanium dioxide (nTiO2) retention and transport in geochemically heterogeneous media

Abstract Natural media such as soil and sediment contain mineralogical and organic components with distinct chemical, surface, and electrostatic properties. To better understand the role of various soil and sediment components on particle transport, columns were packed with quartz sand and natural sediment with added Fe oxyhydroxide coating, illite clay, and peat moss to investigate how these added components influence nTiO2 retention and transport in geochemically heterogeneous medium. Results showed that nTiO2 transport was low at pH 5, attributable to the electrostatic attraction between positively-charged nTiO2 and negatively-charged medium. While illite did not notably affect nTiO2 transport at pH 5, Fe oxyhydroxide coating increased nTiO2 transport due to electrostatic repulsion between Fe oxyhydroxide and nTiO2. Peat moss also increased nTiO2 transport at pH 5, attributable to the increased DOC concentration, which resulted in higher DOC adsorption to nTiO2 and intensified electrostatic repulsion between nTiO2 and the medium. At pH 9, nTiO2 transport was high due to the electrostatic repulsion between negatively-charged nTiO2 and medium surfaces. Fe oxyhydroxide coating at pH 9 slightly delayed nTiO2 transport due to electrostatic attraction, while illite clay and peat moss substantially inhibited nTiO2 transport via straining/entrapment or electrostatic attraction. Overall, this study demonstrated that pH has a considerable effect on how minerals and organic components of a medium influence nTiO2 transport. At low pH, electrostatic attraction was the dominant mechanism, therefore, nTiO2 mobility was low regardless of the differences in mineralogical and organic components. Conversely, nTiO2 mobility was high at high pH and nTiO2 retention was dominated by straining/entrapment and sensitive to the mineralogical and organic composition of the medium.