Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Ni Tang
  • Nina Siebers
  • Peter Leinweber
  • Kai Uwe Eckhardt
  • Stefan Dultz
  • Volker Nischwitz
  • Erwin Klumpp

External Research Organisations

  • Forschungszentrum Jülich
  • RWTH Aachen University
  • University of Rostock
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)14133-14145
Number of pages13
JournalEnvironmental Science and Technology
Volume56
Issue number19
Early online date15 Sept 2022
Publication statusPublished - 4 Oct 2022

Abstract

Colloidal organo-mineral associations contribute to soil organic matter (OM) preservation and mainly occur in two forms: (i) as water-dispersible colloids that are potentially mobile (free colloids) and (ii) as building units of soil microaggregates that are occluded inside them (occluded colloids). However, the way in which these two colloidal forms differ in terms of textural characteristics and chemical composition, together with the nature of their associated OM, remains unknown. To fill these knowledge gaps, free and occluded fine colloids <220 nm were isolated from arable soils with comparable organic carbon (Corg) but different clay contents. Free colloids were dispersed in water suspensions during wet-sieving, while occluded colloids were released from water-stable aggregates by sonication. The asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation analysis on the free and occluded colloids suggested that most of the 0.6-220 nm fine colloidal Corgwas present in size fractions that showed high abundances of Si, Al, and Fe. The pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry revealed that the free colloids were relatively rich in less decomposed plant-derived OM (i.e., lipids, suberin, and free fatty acids), whereas the occluded colloids generally contained more decomposed and microbial-derived OM (i.e., carbohydrates and amides). In addition, a higher thermal stability of OM in occluded colloids pointed to a higher resistance to further degradation and mineralization of OM in occluded colloids than that in free colloids. This study provides new insights into the characteristics of subsized fractions of fine colloidal organo-mineral associations in soils and explores the impacts of free versus occluded colloidal forms on the composition and stability of colloid-associated OM.

Keywords

    asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation, colloidal organo-mineral associations, mass spectrometry, organic matter composition, organic matter stability, soil microaggregates

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils. / Tang, Ni; Siebers, Nina; Leinweber, Peter et al.
In: Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 56, No. 19, 04.10.2022, p. 14133-14145.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Tang, N, Siebers, N, Leinweber, P, Eckhardt, KU, Dultz, S, Nischwitz, V & Klumpp, E 2022, 'Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 56, no. 19, pp. 14133-14145. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c01973
Tang, N., Siebers, N., Leinweber, P., Eckhardt, K. U., Dultz, S., Nischwitz, V., & Klumpp, E. (2022). Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils. Environmental Science and Technology, 56(19), 14133-14145. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c01973
Tang N, Siebers N, Leinweber P, Eckhardt KU, Dultz S, Nischwitz V et al. Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils. Environmental Science and Technology. 2022 Oct 4;56(19):14133-14145. Epub 2022 Sept 15. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c01973
Tang, Ni ; Siebers, Nina ; Leinweber, Peter et al. / Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils. In: Environmental Science and Technology. 2022 ; Vol. 56, No. 19. pp. 14133-14145.
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title = "Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils",
abstract = "Colloidal organo-mineral associations contribute to soil organic matter (OM) preservation and mainly occur in two forms: (i) as water-dispersible colloids that are potentially mobile (free colloids) and (ii) as building units of soil microaggregates that are occluded inside them (occluded colloids). However, the way in which these two colloidal forms differ in terms of textural characteristics and chemical composition, together with the nature of their associated OM, remains unknown. To fill these knowledge gaps, free and occluded fine colloids <220 nm were isolated from arable soils with comparable organic carbon (Corg) but different clay contents. Free colloids were dispersed in water suspensions during wet-sieving, while occluded colloids were released from water-stable aggregates by sonication. The asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation analysis on the free and occluded colloids suggested that most of the 0.6-220 nm fine colloidal Corgwas present in size fractions that showed high abundances of Si, Al, and Fe. The pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry revealed that the free colloids were relatively rich in less decomposed plant-derived OM (i.e., lipids, suberin, and free fatty acids), whereas the occluded colloids generally contained more decomposed and microbial-derived OM (i.e., carbohydrates and amides). In addition, a higher thermal stability of OM in occluded colloids pointed to a higher resistance to further degradation and mineralization of OM in occluded colloids than that in free colloids. This study provides new insights into the characteristics of subsized fractions of fine colloidal organo-mineral associations in soils and explores the impacts of free versus occluded colloidal forms on the composition and stability of colloid-associated OM.",
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note = "Funding Information: This work is associated with the MAD Soil project (MAD Soil - Microaggregates: Formation and turnover of the structural building blocks of soils), which is funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Research Unit 2179). N.T. would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806190224) for supporting her studies at Forschungszentrum J{\"u}lich and RWTH Aachen University. The C and N determination by Jennifer Pelikan, ZEA-3, Forschungszentrum J{\"u}lich, and the ICP-OES measurements by Sabrina T{\"u}ckhardt, ZEA-3, Forschungszentrum J{\"u}lich are gratefully acknowledged.",
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TY - JOUR

T1 - Implications of Free and Occluded Fine Colloids for Organic Matter Preservation in Arable Soils

AU - Tang, Ni

AU - Siebers, Nina

AU - Leinweber, Peter

AU - Eckhardt, Kai Uwe

AU - Dultz, Stefan

AU - Nischwitz, Volker

AU - Klumpp, Erwin

N1 - Funding Information: This work is associated with the MAD Soil project (MAD Soil - Microaggregates: Formation and turnover of the structural building blocks of soils), which is funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Research Unit 2179). N.T. would like to thank the China Scholarship Council (No. 201806190224) for supporting her studies at Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University. The C and N determination by Jennifer Pelikan, ZEA-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich, and the ICP-OES measurements by Sabrina Tückhardt, ZEA-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich are gratefully acknowledged.

PY - 2022/10/4

Y1 - 2022/10/4

N2 - Colloidal organo-mineral associations contribute to soil organic matter (OM) preservation and mainly occur in two forms: (i) as water-dispersible colloids that are potentially mobile (free colloids) and (ii) as building units of soil microaggregates that are occluded inside them (occluded colloids). However, the way in which these two colloidal forms differ in terms of textural characteristics and chemical composition, together with the nature of their associated OM, remains unknown. To fill these knowledge gaps, free and occluded fine colloids <220 nm were isolated from arable soils with comparable organic carbon (Corg) but different clay contents. Free colloids were dispersed in water suspensions during wet-sieving, while occluded colloids were released from water-stable aggregates by sonication. The asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation analysis on the free and occluded colloids suggested that most of the 0.6-220 nm fine colloidal Corgwas present in size fractions that showed high abundances of Si, Al, and Fe. The pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry revealed that the free colloids were relatively rich in less decomposed plant-derived OM (i.e., lipids, suberin, and free fatty acids), whereas the occluded colloids generally contained more decomposed and microbial-derived OM (i.e., carbohydrates and amides). In addition, a higher thermal stability of OM in occluded colloids pointed to a higher resistance to further degradation and mineralization of OM in occluded colloids than that in free colloids. This study provides new insights into the characteristics of subsized fractions of fine colloidal organo-mineral associations in soils and explores the impacts of free versus occluded colloidal forms on the composition and stability of colloid-associated OM.

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