Sonolytic desorption of mercury from aluminum oxide.

As discrete particles and/or as coatings on other mineral surfaces in natural systems, aluminum (hydr)oxides are efficient sinks for Hg(II). Ultrasound at 20 kHz was applied to enhance the desorption of Hg(II) from aluminum oxide particles (5.0 micromol of Hg g(-1)). Results showed that at short times ultrasound enhanced Hg(II) release at pH 4.0 compared to both that from hydrodynamic mixing and that expected on the basis of the Hg(II) sorption isotherm. The higher the input power of sonication, the higher the desorption of Hg(II). However, with longer times, much less desorption occurred by ultrasound than by hydrodynamic mixing, with mass balance measurements demonstrating that the desorbed Hg(II) was resorbed back to the particles. The particles were characterized to explore the mechanism for resorption of Hg(II) by prolonged sonication. No surface area change was observed even though ultrasound dramatically reduced the particle size and changed the surface morphology. Although a decrease in the point of zero charge (PZC) due to sonication was observed, it was excluded as the primary mechanism for Hg(II) resorption. Hg(II) occlusion by aluminum hydroxide precipitation was supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results and the formation of solutions supersaturated with AI. Experiments on presonicated particles verified the occlusion theory by ruling out the effects of the surface area and PZC.