PhD Thesis
Re-aeration of iron(III)-reducing environments: Exploring the coupling of antimony mobility and iron mineral precipitation
Support: Stefan Peiffer, Kerstin Hockmann, Martin Obst
Antimony (Sb) is a suspected carcinogen found in various everyday products. It is primarily mined from stibnite ores, which often results in an uncontrolled release of Sb into the environment. In such situations, the mobility of Sb is largely influenced by interactions with iron (Fe) hydroxide minerals that form via aqueous Fe(II) oxidation. The effectiveness of this immobilization process depends on a range of geochemical factors, including Sb redox speciation and co-occurring ions. In laboratory experiments and field samplings, we aim to systematically explore the effect of Fe(II) oxidation in the presence of Sb on the nature of the resulting Fe(III) precipitates and on the coupled sequestration of Sb under various environmentally relevant conditions