Dissolution rate, alkali metal hydroxide effect

Alkali metal hydroxides, dissolution rate effect, 521-523f Alkoxides, formation of uniform precipitates, 451-464 Aluminum, silicic acid effect on adsorption in food, 612/ 613 Aluminum in biological systems, 604, 605f, 606 Aluminum-modified silica sol, formation, 62, 63/ Aluminum-silicon interactions in biology,... 

In a study [6] of the dissolution of amorphous silica gels in aqueous alkali metal hydroxides, the rate of dissolution was found to depend on the cation used in the dissolution reaction. A maximum in dissolution rate was found for potassium hydroxide solutions, whereas both intrinsically smaller and larger cations (lithium-sodium and rubidium-cesium) showed slower dissolution rates, as can be concluded from the concentration of dissolved silicate species (normalized peak areas) as a function of alkali metal cation (Figure 45.2). This result is contradictory to the expectation that a monotonic increase or decrease in dissolution rate is to be observed for the different cations used. One major effect that occurs at the high pH values of this study is that the majority of silanol... 

Because the only variable changed in this dissolution study was the type of alkali metal hydroxide, differences in dissolution rate must be attributed to differences in adsorption behavior of the alkali metal cations. The affinity for alkali metal cations to adsorb on silica is reported (8) to increase in a continuous way from Cs+ to Li+, so the discontinuous behavior of dissolution rate cannot simply be related to the adsorption behavior of the alkali metal cations. We ascribe the differences in dissolution rate to a promoting effect of the cations in the transport of hydroxyl anions toward the surface of the silica gel. Because differences in hydration properties of the cations contribute to differences in water bonding to the alkali metal cations, differences in local transport phenomena and water structure can be expected, especially when the silica surface is largely covered by cations. Lithium and sodium cations are known as water structure formers and thus have a large tendency to construct a coherent network of water molecules in which water molecules closest to the central cation are very strongly bonded slow exchange (compared to normal water diffusion) will... 

---