The sorption of chloride and potassium in tropical soils

Abstract

This research is concerned on the analysis of the sorption behavior of chloride and potassium íons, in potassium chloride compounds, by means of batch tests using lateritic soils and kaolinitic materials. The applied methodology consisted on the acquisition of representative samples of latossols, kaolinitic material and laboratorial procedures, where the samples were characterized according to their chemical, physical and mineralogical characteristics. Later on, batch tests were accomplished. The analytical results show that the chloride presents a higher mobility than the potassium for both studied materials. It can be concluded that in most KCl solutions, the kaolinitic material adsorbed a higher amount of potassium than the lateritic soil. This fact can be explained by observing that this material presents the highest values of sortive complex and the supremacy of negative superficial charges.