Sorption of phosphate and oxalate by a synthetic aluminium hydroxysulphate complex

Summary We studied the sorption of phosphate and oxalate on a synthetic aluminium hydroxysulphate complex and the associated release of sulphate from this complex. In the pH range 4.0–9.0 the presence of phosphate or oxalate tended to increase the release of sulphate. Much more phosphate than oxalate was sorbed, but in most cases oxalate caused more removal of sulphate than did phosphate. Only in acid systems may these results be partly attributed to the greater solubilization of the complex in the presence of oxalate than in the presence of phosphate. At pH > 8.0 in the presence of phosphate, and at pH > 6.5 in the presence of oxalate, the quantities of sulphate replaced were greater than the quantities of phosphate or oxalate sorbed, suggesting that hydroxyl ions competed with phosphate and oxalate for sorption sites and sulphate removal. Sulphate was only partly removed from the complex even after repeated washings with phosphate or oxalate solutions or after 120 h in the presence of these ligands at pH 6.0. When phosphate and oxalate were added as a mixture much more phosphate than oxalate was retained. Phosphate strongly inhibited oxalate sorption, whereas oxalate partly prevented phosphate sorption only at pH < 7.0. More sulphate was removed in the presence of both the anions than in the presence of phosphate alone, but less than that desorbed in the presence of oxalate alone.