The adsorption of glyphosate and phosphate to goethite: a molecular-scale atomic force microscopy study

The adsorption of glyphosate and phosphate to the goethite {010} surface (Pbnm notation) was studied using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The microscope was capable of producing molecular scale images of surfaces exposed to glyphosate, phosphate and nitric acid. In 0.08 mol/L HNO₃ solution with pH of 1, the goethite {010} surface displayed the periodicities of the surface unit cell. The presence of a secondary periodicity in the 2D-Fourier transform suggests that the surface relaxes or reconstructs slightly, either after cleavage or as a result of exposure to air or acid solution. Images obtained in 0.01 mol/L glyphosate solution with pH of 2.5 displayed a well-defined √2 × √2 superstructure and a somewhat diffuse √2 × 2√2 superstructure that alternated in orientation within single imaging areas. The √2 × √2 superstructure indicates that glyphosate functional groups adsorb in a 1:2 ratio with the singly coordinated hydroxyl groups and suggests that all functional groups coordinate similarly. The √2 × 2√2 superstructure is interpreted to originate from different behaviour of the tip during imaging of the adsorbed phosphonic and carboxylic groups, indicating that both groups coordinate to the surface and that the glyphosate molecule bridges the rows of singly coordinated hydroxyl groups. In 0.01 mol/L phosphate solution with pH of 2.6, the imaged pattern was identical to that obtained in HNO₃. The similarity suggests that phosphate adsorbs in 1:1 ratio with the singly coordinated hydroxyl groups and that phosphate thus coordinates monodentately. The relative maximum adsorption density of phosphate and glyphosate on the {010} surface expected from the AFM data was in agreement with that determined with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).