SpringerLink
Log in

Nitrite reduction by Fe(II) associated with kaolinite

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Interactions of iron (Fe) with the nitrogen (N) cycle have emerged and contain elements of abiotic and biological reactions. One such abiotic reaction which has received little study is the reactivity of NO2 − and Fe(II) associated with a major clay mineral, kaolinite. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the reactivity of NO2 − with Fe(II) added to kaolinite under anoxic conditions. Stirred batch reactivity experiments were carried out with 10 g L−1 kaolinite spiked with 25 and 100 µM Fe(II) at pH 6.45 in an anaerobic chamber. Approximately 500 µM NO2 − was added to initiate the reaction with Fe(II)-loaded kaolinite. The rate of nitrite removal from solution was 2.4-fold slower in the high Fe(II) treatment when compared with the low Fe(II) treatment. A large portion of the NO2 − removed from solution was confirmed to be reduced to N2O(g) in the Fe(II)-kaolinite slurries. However, NO2 − reduction was also noticed in the presence of kaolinite-alone and to somewhat lesser extent in the presence of dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB)-treated kaolinite. Chemical extractions coupled with infrared spectroscopy suggest that Fe(III) oxide mineral impurities and structural Fe(III) in kaolinite may participate in NO2 − removal from solution. Furthermore, a magnetite mineral was identified based on X-ray diffraction analysis of untreated kaolinite and DCB-treated kaolinite. Our findings reveal a novel pathway of NO2 − transformation in the environment in the presence of Fe(II) associated (sorbed and impurity) with kaolinite.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Germany)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alowitz JM, Scherer MM (2002) Kinetics of nitrate, nitrite, and Cr(VI) reduction by iron metal. Environ Sci Technol 36:299–306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amonette JE, Workman DJ, Kennedy DW, Fruchter JS, Gorby YA (2000) Dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride by Fe(II) associated with goethite. Environ Sci Technol 34:4606–4613

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beauvais A, Bertaux J (2002) In situ characterization and differentiation of kaolinites in lateritic weathering profiles using infrared microspectroscopy. Clays Clay Miner 50:314–330

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bertsch PM, Seaman JC (1999) Characterization of complex mineral assemblages: implications for contaminant transport and environmental remediation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:3350–3357

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cleemput OV, Baert L (1983) Nitrite stability influenced by iron compounds. Soil Biol Biochem 15:137–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA, Chorover J, Dail DB (2003) A mechanism of abiotic immobilization of nitrate in forest ecosystems: the ferrous wheel hypothesis. Glob Change Biol 9:228–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhakal P, Matocha CJ, Huggins FE, Vandiviere MM (2013) Nitrite reactivity with magnetite. Environ Sci Technol 47:6206–6213

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DiChristina TJ (1992) Effects of nitrate and nitrite on dissimilatory iron reduction by Shewanella putrefaciens 200. J Bacteriol 174:1891–1896

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foster AL, Brown GEJR, Parks GA (1998) X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy study of photocatalyzed, heterogeneous, As(III) oxidation on kaolin and anatase. Environ Sci Technol 32:1444–1452

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Frederickson JK, Zachara JM, Kennedy DW, Dong H, Onstott TC, Hinman NW, Li S (1998) Biogenic iron mineralization accompanying the dissimilatory-reduction of hydrous ferric oxide by groundwater bacterium. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:3239–3257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golden DC, Dixon JB (1985) Silicate and phosphate influence on kaolin-iron oxide interactions. Soil Sci Soc Am J 49:1568–1576

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen HCB, Borggaard OK, Sørensen J (1994) Evaluation of the free energy of formation of Fe(II)-Fe(III) hydroxide-sulfate (green rust) and its reduction of nitrite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58:2599–2608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jefferson DA, Tricker MJ, Winterbloom AP (1975) Electron-microscopic and Mossbauer spectroscopic studies of iron stained kaolinite. Clays Clay Miner 723:355–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy LG, Everett JW, Ware KJ, Parsons R, Green V (1998) Iron and sulfur mineral analysis methods for natural attenuation assessments. Bioremediat J 2:259–276

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klausen J, Tröber SP, Haderlein SB, Schwarzenbach RP (1995) Reaction of substituted nitrobenzenes by Fe(II) in aqueous mineral suspensions. Environ Sci Technol 29:2396–2404

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klueglein N, Picardal F, Zedda M, Zwiener C, Kappler A (2015) Oxidation of Fe(II)-EDTA by nitrite and by two nitrate reducing Fe(II)-oxidizing Acidovorax strains. Geobiology 13:198–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Komatsu Y, Takagi M, Yamaguchi M (1978) Participation of iron in denitrification in waterlogged soil. Soil Biol Biochem 10:21–26

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Krause B, Nealson KH (1997) Physiology and enzymology involved in denitrification by Shewanella putrefaciens. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:2613–2618

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kukkadapu RK, Zachara JM, Smith SC, Frederickson JK, Liu C (2001) Dissimilatory bacterial reduction of Al-substituted goethite in subsurface sediments. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 65:2913–2924

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu C, Kota S, Zachara JM, Frederickson JK, Brinkman CK (2001) Kinetic analysis of the bacterial reduction of goethite. Environ Sci Technol 35:2482–2490

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Luther GW III, Kostka JE, Church TM, Sulzberger B, Stumm W (1992) Seasonal iron cycling in the salt marsh sedimentary environment—the importance of ligand complexes with Fe(II) and Fe(III) in the dissolution of Fe(III) minerals and pyrite, respectively. Mar Chem 40:81–103

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matocha CJ, Coyne MS (2007) Short-term response of soil iron to nitrate addition. Soil Sci Soc Am J 71:108–117

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matocha CJ, Dhakal P, Pyzola SM (2012) The role of abiotic and coupled biotic/abiotic mineral controlled redox processes in nitrate reduction. Adv Agron 115:181–214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mehra OP, Jackson ML (1960) Iron oxide removal from soils and clays by a dithionite-citrate system buffered with sodium bicarbonate. In: Swineford A (ed) Clays and clay minerals, Proceedings of 7th National Conference, Washington, D.C., 1958. Pergamon Press, New York, pp 317–327

  • Millero FJ (1985) Effect of ionic interactions on oxidation of metals in natural waters. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 49:547–553

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moraghan JT, Buresh RJ (1977) Chemical reduction of nitrite and nitrous oxide by ferrous iron. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41:47–49

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann A, Hofstetter TB, Skarpeli-Liati M, Schwarzenbach RP (2009) Reduction of polychlorinated ethanes and carbon tetrachloride by structural Fe(II) in smectites. Environ Sci Technol 43:4082–4089

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Obuekwe CD, Westlake DWS, Cook FD (1981) Effect of nitrate on reduction of ferric iron by a bacterium isolated from crude oil. Can J Microbiol 27:692–697

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Picardal F (2012) Abiotic and microbial interactions during anaerobic transformations of Fe(II) and NO −x . Front Microbiol 3:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakshit S, Matocha CJ, Coyne MS (2008) Nitrite reduction by siderite. Soil Sci Soc Am J 72:1070–1077

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Samarkin VA, Madigan MT, Bowles MW, Casciotti KL, Priscu JC, McKay CP, Joye SB (2010) Abiotic nitrous oxide emission from the hypersaline Don Juan Pond in Antarctica. Nat Geosci 3:341–344

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Senko JM, Istok JD, Suflita JM, Krumholz LR (2002) In-situ evidence for uranium immobilization and remobilization. Environ Sci Technol 36:1491–1496

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shriver DF, Atkins P, Longford CH (1994) Inorganic chemistry, 2nd edn. W.H. Freeman and Co., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Soltermann D, Fernandes MM, Baeyens B, Dahn R, Joshi PA, Scheinost AC, Gorski CA (2014) Fe(II) uptake on natural montmorillonites. I. Macroscopic and spectroscopic characterization. Environ Sci Technol 48:8688–8697

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen J, Thorling L (1991) Stimulation by lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH) of Fe(II)-dependent nitrite reduction. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:1289–1294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stookey LL (1970) Ferrozine—a new spectrometric reagent for iron. Anal Chem 42:779–781

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stumm W, Morgan JJ (1996) Aquatic chemistry, 3rd edn. John Wiley & Sons, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Stumm W, Sulzberger B (1992) The cycling of iron in natural environments: considerations based on laboratory studies of heterogeneous redox processes. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 56:3233–3257

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tai Y-L, Dempsey BA (2009) Nitrite reduction with hydrous ferric oxide and Fe(II): stoichiometry, rate, and mechanism. Water Res 43:546–552

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vaclavkova S, Schultz-Jensen N, Jacobsen OS, Elberling B, Aamand J (2015) Nitrate-controlled anaerobic oxidation of pyrite by Thiobacillus cultures. Geomicrobiol J 32:412–419

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wehrli B (1990) Redox reactions of metal ions at mineral surfaces. In: Stumm W (ed) Aquatic chemical kinetics. John Wiley & Sons, New York, pp 311–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Yan R, Kappler A, Peiffer S (2015) Interference of nitrite with pyrite under acidic conditions: implications for studies of chemolithotrophic denitrification. Environ Sci Technol 49:11403–11410

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zachara JM, Frederickson JK, Li S, Kennedy DW, Smith SC, Gassman PL (1998) Bacterial reduction of crystalline Fe3+ oxides in single phase suspensions and subsurface materials. Am Mineral 83:1426–1443

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zachara JM, Kukkadapu RK, Fredrickson JK, Gorby YA, Smith SC (2002) Biomineralization of poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxides by dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria (DMRB). Geomicrobiol J 19:179–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank KWRRI for providing funding to support the results presented here.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University, 3500 John A. Merritt Blvd, Nashville, TN, 37209-1561, USA

    S. Rakshit

  2. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, N-122G Ag. Sci. Building-North, Lexington, KY, 40546-0091, USA

    C. J. Matocha & M. S. Coyne

  3. Earth and Environmental Studies Department, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ, USA

    D. Sarkar

Authors
  1. S. Rakshit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. J. Matocha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. M. S. Coyne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. D. Sarkar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Rakshit.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rakshit, S., Matocha, C.J., Coyne, M.S. et al. Nitrite reduction by Fe(II) associated with kaolinite. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 13, 1329–1334 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-0971-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-0971-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation