Adsorption and desorption of Cu on paddy soil aggregates pretreated with different levels of phosphate

Interactions between anions and cations are important for understanding the behaviors of chemical pollutants and their potential risks in the environment. Here we prepared soil aggregates of a yellow paddy soil from the Taihu Lake region, and investigated the effects of phosphate (P) pretreatment on adsorption-desorption of Cu²⁺ of soil aggregates, free iron oxyhydrates-removed soil aggregates, goethite, and kaolinite with batch adsorption method. The results showed that Cu²⁺ adsorption was reduced on the aggregates pretreated with low concentrations of P, and promoted with high concentrations of P, showing a V-shaped change. Compared with the untreated aggregates, the adsorption capacity of Cu²⁺ was reduced when P application rates were lower than 260, 220, 130 and 110 mg/kg for coarse, clay, silt and fine sand fractions, respectively. On the contrary, the adsorption capacity of Cu²⁺ was higher on P-pretreated soil aggregates than on the control ones when P application rates were greater than those values. However, the desorption of Cu²⁺ was enhanced at low levels of P, but suppressed at high levels of P, displaying an inverted V-shaped change over P adsorption. The Cu²⁺ adsorption by the aggregate particles with and without P pretreatments was well described by the Freundlich equation. Similar results were obtained on P-pretreated goethite. However, such P effects on Cu²⁺ adsorption-desorption were not observed on kaolinite and free iron oxyhydrates-removed soil aggregates. The present results indicate that goethite is one of the main soil substances responsible for the P-induced promotion and inhibition of Cu²⁺ adsorption.