Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The geochemical behaviors of phosphate-containing species at mineral surfaces are of fundamental importance for controlling phosphorus (P) mobility, fate, and bioavailability. Understanding these interfacial behaviors in water-unsaturated environments, where minerals are covered by thin water films, is of special importance in the context of soil vadose zone geochemistry. This study resolved the transformation of pyrophosphate to orthophosphate within the confines of nanometer-thick water films condensed on nanosized birnessite (MnO 2 ). Time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy indicated that PP was effectively degraded into monodentate mononuclear complexes on MnO 2 and at rates that followed zero-order kinetics. We found a direct link between PP degradation kinetics and water film thickness, which revealed the role of sorbed water as the key nucleophilic agent needed for P–O–P bond rupture. By highlighting the essential roles of surface complexation and water loadings in controlling pyrophosphate transformation, this work adds new insight needed to advance knowledge on the global cycling of P in nature. It can also have broader applications to catalysis and energy storage solutions involving MnO 2 nanoparticles.
Source: Langmuir
Language: English
Subfield: Waste Management and Disposal
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Awards: G1238292051, G1547261660, Ice as a Geochemical Reactor for Mineral and Organic Aggregation, Influence of fluid flow on chemical reactions under water-unsaturated conditions, G4339393703, G5610620244, G614622187, Rust in Ice: The Geochemistry of Iron in Freezing Water, G7559308287, G8571709492, Direct Mineralization of Atmospheric CO2 by Enhanced Weathering
OpenAlex ID: W4413816144