Adsorption of aluminium by a latosol as affected by phosphate and glutamic acid

Abstract

The effect of phosphate and glutamic acid on adsorption of aluminium onto a latosol was investigated as a function of pH and ligand concentrations through batch equilibrium experiments. The results showed that adsorption of aluminium by the soil was enhanced after addition of phosphate at low pH, and this promotive effect was gradually eliminated with the increase in pH. The positive effect of phosphate on aluminium adsorption onto latosol was attributed to phosphate-induced surface negative charge and formation of ternary surface complexes involving aluminium and phosphate. While using silica as adsorbent, the inactive surfaces for phosphate, promotion of adsorption of aluminium by phosphate was also found. Then it was proposed that additional aluminium might bind to the phosphate adsorbed onto the silica in the form of surface complexes silica–aluminium–phosphate again, and the mechanism might operate in the soil systems as well. Glutamic acid exhibited no influence on the adsorption of aluminium by the soil at low pH. After increasing the pH, adsorption of aluminium was inhibited especially with the highest addition of glutamic acid, probably owing to weak affinity of complexes between glutamic acid and aluminium to the soil.