Benzenecarboxylate surface complexation at the goethite (alpha-FeOOH)/water interface: I. A mechanistic description of pyromellitate surface complexes from the combined evidence of infrared spectroscopy, potentiometry, adsorption data, and surface complexation modeling
An investigation combining IR spectroscopy, potentiometric titrations, and adsorption experiments was carried out to study pyromellitate (1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylate) sorption at the goethite (alpha-FeOOH)/ water interface. The IR spectra show evidence of outer-sphere complexation throughout the pH range from 3 to 9. Below pH 6 additional IR spectroscopic features appear, which are tentatively