The adsorption of cadmium ions to a mixture of Aldrich humic acid and hematite is investigated. The actual adsorption to the humic acid-hematite complex is compared with the sum of the cadmium ion adsorptivities to each of the isolated components. It is shown that the sum of the cadmium ion adsorptivities is not equal to the adsorption to the complex. In general, the adsorption of a specific metal ion to the complex can be understood and qualitatively predicted using the adsorptivities to each of the pure components and taking into account the effect of the pH on the interaction between humic acid and iron oxide on the metal ion adsorption. Due to the interaction between the negatively charged humic acid and the positively charged iron oxide, the adsorption of metal ions on the mineral oxide in the complex will increase as compared to that on the isolated oxide, whereas the adsorption to the humic acid will decrease as compared to that on the isolated humic acid. As a result, the overall adsorption of a specific metal ion to the complex will be smaller than predicted by the additivity rule when this metal ion has a more pronounced affinity for the humic acid than for the mineral oxide, whereas it will be larger than predicted by the additivity rule when the metal ion has a higher affinity for the oxide than for the humic acid.
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