Effects of humus on the mobility of arsenic in tailing soil and the thiol-modification of humus

Abstract

The ability of thiol-modified humic acids (HAs) to release arsenic in tailings soil after being modified with different sulfur-containing reagents were significantly improved. The structure and physicochemical properties of humic acid (HA) before and after thiol-modification were characterized. The 3-MPTS-HA treated with 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-MPTS) effectively improved the mobility of arsenic, and its reducing ability was increased from 2 mmol g−1 to 3.54 mmol g−1. The S content of humic acids were also significantly increased after treatment with sulfur-containing reagents, in which the oxygen-containing functional group (e.g., C = O, C–O) on the surface of HA may be the active sites for binding with sulfur-containing reagents. It was found in the XPS spectrum that because the thiol group is easily oxidized, there are many S forms in thiol-modified HA. The –SH content in Na2S·9H2O-HA, l (+)-Cysteine-HA (Cys-HA), thioglycolic acid (TGA-HA) and 3-MPTS-HA was determined by fluorescence method to be 13.9, 78.45, 90.34, and 192.29 μmol g−1, respectively. The study demonstrated that surface thiol modification can increase the abundance of thiol in HA and enhance reactivity, which will further promote the application of HA in the treatment of heavy metal contaminated tailing soil.