52-3 Organic Matter Stabilization: Mechanistic Insights at the Molecular and Nanometer Length Scales.
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil Chemistry
See more from this Session: Chemical Processes Responsible for Carbon Fluxes: I
Abstract:
It has been documented that soil organic carbon is strongly associated with both high surface area clay minerals and pre-existing organic molecules. The nature of these interactions is not well understood and much of the current knowledge relies on experiments that take a top-down approach using bulk experimental measurements. Our work seeks to systematically probe physical, chemical, and molecular-level interactions at organo-mineral and organic-organic interfaces using a bottom-up approach. By implementing dynamic force spectroscopy, we have explored the energy landscape of individual functional groups (including carboxylic acid, amine, methyl, and phosphate groups) to directly measure the binding energies of these organic moieties with clay and mineral surfaces. Using these measurements, we have generated a model system to determine chemistries that exhibit both strong and weak binding to minerals. This research has the potential to provide researchers with guiding principles about stabilization mechanisms of carbon in soils at the sub-nanometer length scale.
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil Chemistry
See more from this Session: Chemical Processes Responsible for Carbon Fluxes: I