Determining the speciation of Zn in soils around the sediment ponds of chemical plants by XRD and XAFS spectroscopy and sequential extraction

Publication date: 1 September 2018
Source:Science of The Total Environment, Volume 634
Author(s): Tatiana Minkina, Dina Nevidomskaya, Tatiana Bauer, Victoria Shuvaeva, Alexander Soldatov, Saglara Mandzhieva, Yan Zubavichus, Alexander Trigub
For a correct assessment of risk of polluted soil, it is crucial to establish the speciation and mobility of the contaminants. The aim of this study was to investigate the speciation and transformation of Zn in strongly technogenically transformed contaminated Spolic Technosols for a long time in territory of sludge collectors by combining analytical techniques and synchrotron techniques. Sequential fractionation of Zn compounds in studied soils revealed increasing metal mobility. Phyllosilicates and Fe and Mn hydroxides were the main stabilizers of Zn mobility. A high degree of transformation was identified for the composition of the mineral phase in Spolic Technosols by X-ray powder diffraction. Technogenic phases (Zn-containing authigenic minerals) were revealed in Spolic Technosols samples through the analysis of their Zn K-edge EXAFS and XANES spectra. In one of the samples Zn local environment was formed by predominantly oxygen atoms, and in the other one mixed ZnS and ZnO bonding was found. Zn speciation in the studied technogenically transformed soils was due to the composition of pollutants contaminating the floodplain landscapes for a long time, and, second, this is the combination of physicochemical properties controlling the buffer properties of investigated soils. X-ray spectroscopic and X-ray powder diffraction analyses combined with sequential extraction assays is an effective tool to check the affinity of the soil components for heavy metal cations.

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