CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF

SOIL

Chapter#05
Tayyab Tahir
2018-MS-GE-05
 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
Chemical properties the are practiced in geo-
environmental studies are:

 pH or Hydrogen Ion Activity

 Surface Charge & Point of Zero Charge

 Cation Exchange Capacity

 Anion Exchange Capacity

 Specific Surface
PH OR HYDROGEN-ION ACTIVITY
 Most important soil property. It’s the –ve
logarithm of hydrogen-ion activity (ph = -log[H+])
 ranges from 0-14, below 7 are acidic soils while
above 7 are basic or alkaline soils, 7 is neutral.
 The pH of soil is influenced by:
➢ The soil-to-water ratio (dilution).
➢ The soluble salts
➢ The CO2 in air
 Soil-water ratio ranges from 1:1(most common) to
1:10
 High plastic soils require higher dilution to keep
particles in suspension ( the more dilute the soil,
the higher the pH).
PH OR HYDROGEN-ION ACTIVITY
 Rise in pH value with dilution may be on the
order of 0.2-0.5 pH units, higher units in certain
neutral alkaline soils.
 pH of soil suspension decreases with
solubilization of salts.
 so, soil pH is measured using one part of soil and
two parts of 0.01 M of CaCl2 solution, prepared
with distilled water.
 This pH value is independent of soil-to-water
ratio and dissolved salts.
 CO2 also effect pH but at common atm. perssure
this effect is very small.
PH OR HYDROGEN-ION ACTIVITY
 pH of soils is measured by using glass electrode
pH meter (ASTM D 4972, USEPA 9045C).
 Procedure involves, mixing one part of soil with
one part of distilled water in a beaker, stirring
the suspension of 30-mins, allowing suspended
clay to settle for 1hr.
 Immersing the glass electrode partly into the
settled suspension & measure the pH.
SURFACE CHARGE & POINT OF ZERO
CHARGE
 Coarse grain soils (gravel, sand & silt) are
chemically inert. Clay minerals generally carry
electronegative charges. This is due to
➢ Isomorphous substitutions
➢ Desiccation of exposed OH groups
 Isomorphous substitution is the substitution of
atoms for another atom without affecting the
crystal structure.
 Its in both silica (tetrahedral) & aluminum
(octahedral) of clay.
 These substitutions occur b/w atoms of almost
equal size when the valance difference does not
exceed to one unit.
SURFACE CHARGE & POINT OF ZERO
CHARGE
 -ve charge on clay is due to the presence of
exposed OH groups on the surface of Al
octahedral sheets.
 Prevalent in 1:1 type clay minerals, OH are in
contact with soil solution and tend to desiccate,
releasing the H+ (protons). This leave –ve charge
on octahedron.
 This desiccation depend on pH (occur at high pH
and decreases at low pH).
 Therefore, magnitude of charge increases or
decreases with pH (pH-dependent charge).
SURFACE CHARGE & POINT OF ZERO
CHARGE
 Sometimes, clay minerals carry +ve charge,
result from the protonation of exposed OH
groups.
 Addition of H+ ions to exposed OH- ions. Because
of this addition of H+, OH group is oversaturated
with protons and clay surface becomes +vely
charged.
 This only occur at low pH values, because acidic
condition is required for supply of extra protons.
 The permanent charge resulting from isomorphic
substitution is –ve, and is independent of pH.
SURFACE CHARGE & POINT OF ZERO
CHARGE
 pH dependent charge (desiccation of OH) is –ve at high
pH, while surface charge (protonation of OH) is +ve at
low pH.
 Net surface charge on soil surface is summation of
permanent charge and pH-dependent charge.
 The pH at which net surface charge is 0, is called point
of zero charge (PZC).
 Surface charge has major implication on distribution of
ionic contaminants in soil.
 -ve surface charge, cationic metals will be bonded to the
soil surface: +ve surface charge, anionic metal complex
will be bonded.
 PZC is used to det. the range in which soil is +vely or –
vely charged.
CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
 When the surface charge of soil is –ve, the –ve
charges are bonded by cations (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+
etc.), which form diffuse double layer.
 These cations are easily replace each other, called
the exchangeable cations, & sum of exchangeable
cations is called the cation exchange capacity
(CEP).
 It is expressed as milliequivalent per 100g of dry
soil (meq/100g).
 Milliequivalent of an ion is the atomic weight of
that ion (mg) divided by its valance.
CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
 Different methods are used to determine CEC, these
methods involve replacing exchangeable cations by
saturating with selected cations.
 Procedure consists of mixing known amount of dry soil
with reagent solution, shaking thoroughly, filtering
and centrifuging.
 This process is repeated 3-4 times so that all the
exchangeable cations are replaced by selected reagent
cations.
 Amount of absorbed reagent cations in the soil is equal
to CEC.
 Selected reagents are: 1 N ammonium acetate (pH 7.0),
1 N sodium acetate (pH 8.2) or 0.5 N barium chloride +
0.2 N triethanolamine solution (pH 8.2)
CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
 CEC depends on
➢ Clay content
➢ Clay types
➢ Organic content

 CEC is high in soils have high clay or organic

content.
 Adsorption of contaminants depend of CEC i.e.
higher the CEC, higher the adsorption.
ANION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
 AEC of soil is to adsorb exchange anions.
 Soil must be +vely charged & this occur at low
pH, when soil is below PZC.
 +ve charge also develop from broken bonds or
broken clay mineral surfaces. AEC < CEC.
 Procedure used to det. AEC is same as CEC
except different reagent solutions are used to
replace exchangeable anions.
 Generally, AEC is negligible at natural pH (5-8)
soils. AEC ranges from 1-10 mmol/kg, but high as
1 mol/kg in soils with high organic and oxide
content.
ANION EXCHANGE CAPACITY
 Adsorption of anionic contaminants on soil
surface depends on AEC.
 Higher AEC, higher the adsorption.
SPECIFIC SURFACE
 It is the ratio of surface area to either volume or
mass.
 Determine by ethylene glycol, glycerol or
ethylene glycol monoethyl (EGME) adsorption
procedure.
 Particles smaller than 1µm posses significant
surface area; larger surface area , higher
imbalanced surface charge, greater adsorption of
contaminants.