Hydrogen peroxide and high-temperature heating differently alter the stability and aggregation of black soil colloids

Chemical oxidation and high-temperature heating have been widely used for the decontamination of soils polluted by hydrocarbons and the removal of soil organic matter. Chemical oxidation and high-temperature heating decreased the stability of soil colloids, but the difference in colloidal stability and aggregation behaviors of soil after chemical oxidation and high-temperature heating is not clear. In this study, taken black soil as an example, we tested the stability profiles of black soil colloids (BC), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) treated black soil colloids (BC_H2O2), and 350 °C treated black soil colloids (BC_350 °C) in three salt solutions (NaCl, CaCl2, and Na2SO4) with different salt concentrations. The stability of soil colloids in salt solutions was in the order of BC > BC_350 °C > BC_H2O2. The salt concentrations at which three colloids started to be unstable were much lower for CaCl2 solution than those for NaCl and Na2SO4 solution. Salt concentrations that suspension started to be unstable were similar in NaCl and Na2SO4 solution for all the three colloids, but the colloidal stability profile in NaCl solution decreased faster than that in Na2SO4 solution when the suspension was unstable. The stability profiles of three colloids at the fast aggregation stage could be well fitted with the proposed exponential model, and model parameters (t0 and Smax) could reflect the stability behaviors of soil colloids in various salt solutions.