Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers

© 2019 American Chemical Society. Goethite (α-FeOOH) is dispersed throughout the earth's surface, and its propensity to recrystallize in aqueous solutions determines whether this mineral is a source or sink for critical trace elements in the environment. Under reducing conditions, goethite comm...

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Main Authors: Frierdich, A.J., Saxey, David, Adineh, V.R., Fougerouse, Denis, Reddy, Steven, Rickard, William, Sadek, A.Z., Southall, S.C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: AMER CHEMICAL SOC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE190101307
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79365
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author Frierdich, A.J.
Saxey, David
Adineh, V.R.
Fougerouse, Denis
Reddy, Steven
Rickard, William
Sadek, A.Z.
Southall, S.C.
author_facet Frierdich, A.J.
Saxey, David
Adineh, V.R.
Fougerouse, Denis
Reddy, Steven
Rickard, William
Sadek, A.Z.
Southall, S.C.
author_sort Frierdich, A.J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2019 American Chemical Society. Goethite (α-FeOOH) is dispersed throughout the earth's surface, and its propensity to recrystallize in aqueous solutions determines whether this mineral is a source or sink for critical trace elements in the environment. Under reducing conditions, goethite commonly coexists with aqueous Fe(II) (Fe(II)aq), which accelerates recrystallization by coupled electron transfer and atom exchange. Quantifying the amount of the mineral phase that exchanges its structural Fe(III) atoms with Fe(II)aq is complicated by recrystallization models with untested assumptions of whether, and to what extent, the recrystallized portion of the mineral continues to interact with the solution. Here, we reacted nanoparticulate goethite with 57Fe-enriched Fe(II)aq and used atom probe tomography (APT) to resolve the three-dimensional distribution of Fe isotopes in goethite at the sub nm scale. We found that the 57Fe tracer isotope is enriched in the bulk structure (tens of nanometers deep), with some samples having 57Fe penetration throughout at a level that is similar to the isotopic composition of Fe(II)aq. This suggests that some particles undergo near-complete recrystallization. In other cases, however, the distribution of 57Fe is more heterogeneous and generally concentrates near the particle periphery. Nanoparticle encapsulation and subsequent APT can hence capture hidden recrystallization mechanisms which are critical to predicting mineral reactivity in aqueous solutions.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-793652023-06-06T09:29:39Z Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers Frierdich, A.J. Saxey, David Adineh, V.R. Fougerouse, Denis Reddy, Steven Rickard, William Sadek, A.Z. Southall, S.C. Science & Technology Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Engineering, Environmental Environmental Sciences Engineering Environmental Sciences & Ecology AQUEOUS FE(II) LOW-TEMPERATURE ALPHA-FEOOH EXCHANGE MN FE NI BARITE FRACTIONATION SPECIATION © 2019 American Chemical Society. Goethite (α-FeOOH) is dispersed throughout the earth's surface, and its propensity to recrystallize in aqueous solutions determines whether this mineral is a source or sink for critical trace elements in the environment. Under reducing conditions, goethite commonly coexists with aqueous Fe(II) (Fe(II)aq), which accelerates recrystallization by coupled electron transfer and atom exchange. Quantifying the amount of the mineral phase that exchanges its structural Fe(III) atoms with Fe(II)aq is complicated by recrystallization models with untested assumptions of whether, and to what extent, the recrystallized portion of the mineral continues to interact with the solution. Here, we reacted nanoparticulate goethite with 57Fe-enriched Fe(II)aq and used atom probe tomography (APT) to resolve the three-dimensional distribution of Fe isotopes in goethite at the sub nm scale. We found that the 57Fe tracer isotope is enriched in the bulk structure (tens of nanometers deep), with some samples having 57Fe penetration throughout at a level that is similar to the isotopic composition of Fe(II)aq. This suggests that some particles undergo near-complete recrystallization. In other cases, however, the distribution of 57Fe is more heterogeneous and generally concentrates near the particle periphery. Nanoparticle encapsulation and subsequent APT can hence capture hidden recrystallization mechanisms which are critical to predicting mineral reactivity in aqueous solutions. 2019 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79365 10.1021/acs.est.9b04191 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE190101307 AMER CHEMICAL SOC restricted
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Engineering, Environmental
Environmental Sciences
Engineering
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
AQUEOUS FE(II)
LOW-TEMPERATURE
ALPHA-FEOOH
EXCHANGE
MN
FE
NI
BARITE
FRACTIONATION
SPECIATION
Frierdich, A.J.
Saxey, David
Adineh, V.R.
Fougerouse, Denis
Reddy, Steven
Rickard, William
Sadek, A.Z.
Southall, S.C.
Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title_full Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title_fullStr Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title_full_unstemmed Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title_short Direct Observation of Nanoparticulate Goethite Recrystallization by Atom Probe Analysis of Isotopic Tracers
title_sort direct observation of nanoparticulate goethite recrystallization by atom probe analysis of isotopic tracers
topic Science & Technology
Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Engineering, Environmental
Environmental Sciences
Engineering
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
AQUEOUS FE(II)
LOW-TEMPERATURE
ALPHA-FEOOH
EXCHANGE
MN
FE
NI
BARITE
FRACTIONATION
SPECIATION
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE190101307
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79365