A critical assessment of sorption-desorption mechanisms at the soil mineral/water interface

Sorption is one of the most important chemical processes in soil. It affects the fate and mobility of nutrients and contaminants in soils and waters greatly. This paper critically reviews the mechanisms of sorption/desorption phenomena at the mineral/water interface. A brief discussion of macroscopic, equilibrium approaches for describing sorption processes is provided. However, emphasis will be placed on the importance of understanding the rates of sorption/desorption processes and coupling the kinetic investigations with in-situ atomic/molecular resolution surface techniques. The use of X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy and scanning force microscopy (SFM) will be emphasized.