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Speciation and thermodynamic properties for cobalt chloride complexes in hydrothermal fluids at 35-440 degrees C and 600 bar: an in-situ XAS study

Citation

Liu, WH and Borg, SJ and Testemale, D and Etschmann, B and Hazemann, JL and Brugger, J, Speciation and thermodynamic properties for cobalt chloride complexes in hydrothermal fluids at 35-440 degrees C and 600 bar: an in-situ XAS study, Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta, 75, (5) pp. 1227-1248. ISSN 0016-7037 (2011) [Refereed Article]


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DOI: doi:10.1016/j.gca.2010.12.002

Abstract

Aqueous Co(II) chloride complexes play a crucial role in cobalt transport and deposition in ore-forming hydrothermal systems, ore processing plants, and in the corrosion of special Co-bearing alloys. Reactive transport modelling of cobalt in hydrothermal fluids relies on the availability of thermodynamic properties for Co complexes over a wide range of temperature, pressure and salinity. Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to determine the speciation of cobalt(II) in 0–6 m chloride solutions at temperatures between 35 and 440 °C at a constant pressure of 600 bar. Qualitative analysis of XANES spectra shows that octahedral species predominate in solution at 35 °C, while tetrahedral species become increasingly important with increasing temperature. Ab initio XANES calculations and EXAFS analyses suggest that in high temperature solutions the main species at high salinity (Cl:Co >> 2) is CoCl42−, while a lower order tetrahedral complex, most likely CoCl2(H2O)2(aq), predominates at low salinity (Cl:Co ratios ∼2). EXAFS analyses further revealed the bonding distances for the octahedral Co(H2O)62+ (octCo–O = 2.075(19) Å), tetrahedral CoCl42− (tetCo–Cl = 2.252(19) Å) and tetrahedral CoCl2(H2O)2(aq) (tetCo–O = 2.038(54) Å and tetCo–Cl = 2.210(56) Å). An analysis of the Co(II) speciation in sodium bromide solutions shows a similar trend, with tetrahedral bromide complexes becoming predominant at higher temperature/salinity than in the chloride system. EXAFS analysis confirms that the limiting complex at high bromide concentration at high temperature is CoBr42−. Finally, XANES spectra were used to derive the thermodynamic properties for the CoCl42− and CoCl2(H2O)2(aq) complexes, enabling thermodynamic modelling of cobalt transport in hydrothermal fluids. Solubility calculations show that tetrahedral CoCl42− is responsible for transport of cobalt in hydrothermal solutions with moderate chloride concentration (∼2 m NaCl) at temperatures of 250 °C and higher, and both cooling and dilution processes can cause deposition of cobalt from hydrothermal fluids.

Item Details

Item Type:Refereed Article
Keywords:Co, cobalt, chloride, solution, solubility, hydrothermal fluid
Research Division:Earth Sciences
Research Group:Geochemistry
Research Field:Inorganic geochemistry
Objective Division:Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences
ID Code:74827
Year Published:2011
Web of Science® Times Cited:96
Deposited By:Centre for Ore Deposit Research - CODES CoE
Deposited On:2011-12-14
Last Modified:2013-01-18
Downloads:0

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