Triple-layer model specific adsorption

A specific example of the relationship between the microscopic subreactions required to model experimental observations of metal removal and the macroscopic proton coefficient is shown for the case of Cd(II) adsorption onto a-A f (Figure 3). One variation of the surface coordination concept is used to describe the system subreactions the Triple Layer Model of Davis et al., (1,20). The specific subreactions which are considered, the formation constants and compact layer capacitances, are shown in Table IV. Protons are assigned to the o-plane (the oxide surface) and Cd(II) surface species and electrolyte ions to the 8-plane located a distance, 8, from the o-plane. 

Thus, according to these theories, all univalent (1 1) electrolytes should behave the same way. However, this is not what was observed experimentally. Solutions of different 1 1 electrolytes (e.g., NaCl, NaBr, Nal, KI) show species-specific behavior. In order to interpret this specific behavior, Grahame (5) proposed a new model of the interphase the triple-layer model. The basic idea in the interpretation of the ion-specific behavior is that anions, when attracted into the interphase, may become dehydrated and thus get closer to the electrode. Each anion undergoes this to a different extent. This difference in the degree of dehydration and the difference in the size of ions results in the specific behavior of the anions. Ions that are partially or fully dehydrated are in contact with the electrode. This contact adsorption of ions allows short-range forces (e.g., electric image forces) to act between the metal elec-... 

In fig. 3.20b specific adsorption Is also accounted for. The notion of specific adsorption has been defined In sec. 3.3. In disperse systems, its occurrence is de facto Inferred from the dependence of certain double layer properties on the natures of counter- and co-lons Generally, ions interacting specifically (non-electrostatlcally) with the surface approach it to shorter distance p < d). The plane where these specifically adsorbed ions reside is called the inner Helmholtz plane (iHp) In colloid science, the model of fig. 3.20b Is also known as the triple layer model. In this model three charges and three capacitances can be distinguished. For the two inner layer differential capacitances... 

VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPY Infrared and Raman spectroscopies have proven to be useful techniques for studying the interactions of ions with surfaces. Direct evidence for inner-sphere surface complex formation of metal and metalloid anions has come from vibrational spectroscopic characterization. Both Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies are capable of examining ion adsorption in wet systems. Chromate (Hsia et al., 1993) and arsenate (Hsia et al., 1994) were found to adsorb specifically on hydrous iron oxide using FTIR spectroscopy. Raman and FTIR spectroscopic studies of arsenic adsorption indicated inner-sphere surface complexes for arsenate and arsenite on amorphous iron oxide, inner-sphere and outer-sphere surface complexes for arsenite on amorphous iron oxide, and outer-sphere surface complexes for arsenite on amorphous aluminum oxide (Goldberg and Johnston, 2001). These surface configurations were used to constrain the surface complexes in application of the constant capacitance and triple layer models (Goldberg and Johnston, 2001). 

The triple layer model attempts to take into account inner sphere complex formation and electrostatic adsorption simultaneously by considering "specifically adsorbed" ions which are supposed to be maintained very close to the surface, whether it be through the formation of covalent bonds with some surface groups, or of some outer sphere complex. No specific interpretation of the bonding is required, provided one can define a plane of specific adsorption, located a few A from the surface and containing those ions this is called the Stem layer. The theory distinguishes then between three successive parallel layers the surface plane proper, the Stem layer, and the diffuse layer. 

The main, currently used, surface complexation models (SCMs) are the constant capacitance, the diffuse double layer (DDL) or two layer, the triple layer, the four layer and the CD-MUSIC models. These models differ mainly in their descriptions of the electrical double layer at the oxide/solution interface and, in particular, in the locations of the various adsorbing species. As a result, the electrostatic equations which are used to relate surface potential to surface charge, i. e. the way the free energy of adsorption is divided into its chemical and electrostatic components, are different for each model. A further difference is the method by which the weakly bound (non specifically adsorbing see below) ions are treated. The CD-MUSIC model differs from all the others in that it attempts to take into account the nature and arrangement of the surface functional groups of the adsorbent. These models, which are fully described in a number of reviews (Westall and Hohl, 1980 Westall, 1986, 1987 James and Parks, 1982 Sparks, 1986 Schindler and Stumm, 1987 Davis and Kent, 1990 Hiemstra and Van Riemsdijk, 1996 Venema et al., 1996) are summarised here. 

---