Issue 5, 2011

Sorption of nano-C60 clusters in soil: hydrophilic or hydrophobic interactions?

Abstract

We studied the sorption behaviour of fullerene nano-C60 particles (nC60) in soil from binary solvent mixtures of ethanolwater in order to critically evaluate the previous reports in the literature that the partitioning mechanism explains the soil sorption of fullerene C60 as hydrophobic molecules. The sorption of nC60 particles was studied in a range of solvent mixtures by changing volume fractions of ethanol from 20 to 100 percent. Sorption and particle characteristics were found to be very different in ethanol : water mixtures above and below 60% ethanol. In the range of 20–60% ethanol, sorption increased from 1.2 to 14.6 L kg−1 accompanied by a change in zeta (ζ) potential from −32.4 to −7.2 mV. This observation can be attributed to hydrophilic interactions that negatively charged nC60 particles undergo with soil colloids and water molecules. From 60% to 100% ethanol volume fractions, hydrophobic interactions of weakly charged nanoparticles may control the overall extent of soil sorption. The findings of this study indicate the importance of hydrophilic forces in controlling the sorption behaviour of nC60 particles which are stabilized in water dominated solvent mixtures. The validity of the partitioning mechanism and KOC modelling approach in describing and estimating the sorption of nC60 particles in soil (previously suggested in the literature) are, therefore, questioned.

Graphical abstract: Sorption of nano-C60 clusters in soil: hydrophilic or hydrophobic interactions?

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Nov 2010
Accepted
07 Feb 2011
First published
11 Mar 2011

J. Environ. Monit., 2011,13, 1190-1194

Sorption of nano-C60 clusters in soil: hydrophilic or hydrophobic interactions?

M. Forouzangohar and R. S. Kookana, J. Environ. Monit., 2011, 13, 1190 DOI: 10.1039/C0EM00689K

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