Mobility of Rare Earth Elements in Coastal Aquifer Materials under Fresh and Brackish Water Conditions

Abstract

The indispensable role of rare earth elements (REEs) in manufacturing high-tech products and developing various technologies has resulted in a surge in REE extraction and processing. The latter, in turn, intensifies the release of anthropogenic REEs into the environment, particularly in the groundwater system. REE contamination in coastal aquifer systems, which serve as drinking and domestic water sources for large populations, demands a thorough understanding of the mechanisms that govern REE transport and retention in these environments. In this study, we conducted batch and column experiments using five representative coastal aquifer materials and an acid-wash sand sample as a benchmark. These experiments were conducted by adding humic acid (HA) to the REE solution under fresh and brackish water conditions using NaCl, representing different groundwater compositions in coastal aquifers. The REEs were shown to be most mobile in the acid-wash sand and natural sand samples, followed by two types of low-carbonate calcareous sandstone and one type of high-calcareous sandstone and the least mobile in red loamy sand. The mobility of REEs, found in solution primarily as REE–HA complexes, was controlled mainly by the retention of HA, which increases with increasing ionic strength and surface area of the aquifer material. Furthermore, it was found that the presence of carbonate and clay minerals reduces the REE mobility due to enhanced surface interactions. The higher recoveries of middle-REE (MREE) in the column experiment effluents observed for the acid-wash sand and natural sand samples were due to the higher stabilization of MREE–HA complexes compared to light-REE (LREE) and heavy-REE (HREE) HA complexes. Higher HREE recoveries were observed for the calcareous sandstones due to the preferred complexation of HREE with carbonate ions and for the red loamy sand due to the preferred retention of LREE and MREE by clay, iron, and manganese minerals.