Effect of surface coordination on 2,4-D sorption by kaolinite from methanol/water mixture

The application of the cosolvency sorption model to predict the sorption of carboxylic acids in cosolvent systems was found to be problematic. The cause of the discrepancy was investigated by analyzing the solubility (S_m) and sorption (K_m, linear sorption coefficient) of the pesticide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) on metal-saturated kaolinites, as a function of methanol volume fraction (f_c) and apparent solution pH. The possible formation of a coordination compound during the hydrophilic interaction of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate in methanol-water mixture was identified using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The S_m of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate increased with increasing f_c. Thus, the shift of activity of solute occurred in the liquid phase was not significant for determining the cause of the positive K_m-f_c relationship. However, K_m value of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate on the metal-saturated kaolinite increased log-linearly with f_c. The ATR-FTIR results on surface coordination of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate on the metal-saturated kaolinite surface showed that bidentate coordination is more likely to occur instead of a bridging coordination with increasing f_c. Therefore, it can be reasonably concluded that the positive K_m-f_c relationship is due to the charge-related hydrophilic interaction through bidentate coordination of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetate, and it increases with increasing positive charge density on the kaolinites, as a function of f_c.