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USING MOLECULAR PROBES TO STUDY INTERFACIAL REDOX REACTION AT FE-BEARING SMECTITES
Citation:
Yan, L. AND G W. Bailey. USING MOLECULAR PROBES TO STUDY INTERFACIAL REDOX REACTION AT FE-BEARING SMECTITES. Presented at Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 1-4, 1999.
Description:
The interfacial electron transfer of clay-water systems has a wide range of significance in geochemical and biogeochernical environments. However the mechanism of interfacial electron transport is poorly understood. The electron transfer mechanism at the solid-water interfaces of Fe-containing smectites was investigated. In this study nitrobenzene and benzoic acid were used as molecular probes. Both untreated and reduced smectite suspensions were reacted with the probe water solutions. At the end of reaction the solution phases were separated by centrifuge, and were analyzed by HPLC with photo diode array UV detector. It was found that, only in the reduced smectite suspensions, nitrobenzene was reduced and transformed into aniline, and benzoic acid was transformed into hydroxybenzoic acids. These results were interpreted to mean that electron transfer and free radical formation occurred.