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Characterization of Neodymium Speciation in the Presence of Fulvic Acid by Ion Exchange Technique and Single Particle ICP-MS

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Abstract

It has been well known that the free ion concentration of metals plays a vital role in metal bioavailability. However, measurement of this fraction is still not easy over years of development. Nowadays, rare earth elements (REEs) are drawing more attentions as an emerging contaminant due to their wide applications in our daily life. To analyze the free ion concentration of neodymium (Nd), we adopted ion-exchange technique (IET) to investigate the changes on Nd free ion concentration in the presence of fulvic acid (FA). With the dynamic mode of IET analysis, the concentrations of Nd free ion were in the range of 0.85–36.8 × 10–8 M at the total Nd concentration of 5 × 10–7 M when FA varied from 0.4 to 10 M. However, these concentrations were 3–58 times higher than the one calculated by WHAM 7.0, which may be due to the particulate Nd spontaneously formed in solution. With single particle ICP-MS analysis, we found 0.25%–2.36% of Nd was in the form of colloids when the total Nd concentrations varied from 8.5 × 10–9 to 4.7 × 10–7 M, with the average particle sizes in the range of 26.5–39.2 nm. The presence of FA significantly decreased the number of Nd colloids, but increased the average particle size. Under the TEM, we found that Nd colloids were amorphous, with the size less than 200 nm. The present study provided a relatively new perspective on REE speciation in water. The natural organic matters not only affect the free ion concentration of Nd, but also influenced the size and numbers of Nd colloids in solution.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (2018YFC1801100), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21607178).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Chun-Mei Zhao, Yi-Ming Wang, Ye-Tao Tang & Rong-Liang Qiu

  2. Guangdong Provincial Academy of Environmental Science, Guangzhou, China

    Le-Lan Wu

  3. College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China

    Rong-Liang Qiu

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  1. Chun-Mei Zhao
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  2. Le-Lan Wu
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  3. Yi-Ming Wang
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Correspondence to Rong-Liang Qiu.

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Zhao, CM., Wu, LL., Wang, YM. et al. Characterization of Neodymium Speciation in the Presence of Fulvic Acid by Ion Exchange Technique and Single Particle ICP-MS. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 108, 779–785 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03360-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-021-03360-y

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