ABSTRACT Phytoliths produced by higher plants are biogenic minerals with a wide range of particle sizes that correspond to clay, silt, and sand in mineral soil. Phytoliths supplied to soils through plants’ death function as soil particles and affect soil physicochemical properties. Investigations of the functions of phytolith particles as a subset of soil particles are facilitated by fractionation and quantification of the phytoliths based on soil particle-size distribution. Fractionation is typically conducted through particle-size analysis (PSA) methods developed for soil texture analyses. However, the effects of chemicals used to achieve particle dispersion in these methods on phytolith dispersibility remain poorly understood. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of chemical dispersants on phytolith dispersibility. Based on the results, several recommendations are provided with respect to the dispersal conditions. The phytoliths used in this study were extracted from Moso bamboo leaf litter through wet digestion and dispersed by ultrasound followed by two chemical procedures: pH control using hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide and the addition of sodium hexametaphosphate as a dispersant. The extent of dispersion was determined by quantifying the clay-sized fraction (<2 µm) through gravity sedimentation and the pipette method. The results showed that the content of clay-sized phytoliths in dispersions remained constant from pH 3 to 9, then increased significantly at pH 10–11, likely due to phytolith dissolution, which also led to overestimation of the clay-sized fraction. This finding demonstrated that dispersion at higher pH (>10), as is often the case in PSA methods for soils, is unsuitable for phytoliths; instead, soil particles should be dispersed at pH < 9 to avoid phytolith dissolution.
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