Effects of pH and phosphate on CeO2 nanoparticle dissolution

As the result of rapidly grown nanotechnology industries, release of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) to environment has increased, posing in a serious risk to environmental and human health. To better understand the chemical fate of ENPs in aquatic environments, solubility of CeO2 NPs was investigated using batch dissolution experiments as a function of pH (1.65–12.5), [phosphate] and particle size (33 and 78 nm). It was found that CeO2 dissolution was only significant at pH < 5 and inversely proportional to surface area. After 120 h, the release of Ce was ∼3 times greater in large NPs than that in small NPs that is likely contributed by the difference in exchangeable Ce(III) impurity (small: 0.3 mM kg−1, large: 1.56 mM kg−1). When 100 μM of phosphate was added, the dissolution rate of CeO2 NPs was decreased in small NPs by 15% at pH 1.65 and 75% at pH 4.5 and in large NPs by 56% at pH 1.65 and 63% at pH 4.5. The inner-sphere surface complexation of P that is revealed by the zeta potential measurements is effectively suppressing the CeO2 NP dissolution. Predicting the fate and transport of CeO2 NPs in aquatic environment, pH and P ligands might play important roles in controlling the solubility of CeO2 NPs.