X-ray accelerated photo-oxidation of As(III) in solution.

We performed near edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES) measurements on the arsenic K-edge of As(III) in solution under acidic and basic conditions, after exposure of the solutions to air. Spectra were recorded for increasing exposure times to the X-rays used to perform absorption spectroscopy measurements. We did not find changes for the solution under acidic conditions, whereas we observed significant changes in the case of solution under alkaline conditions. To interpret these changes, we compared the obtained spectra with XANES spectra of As(III) and As(V) solutions under alkaline conditions, not exposed to air, and used as standards. Principal component fits using these standards indicate an accelerated conversion of As(III) to As(V) due to the exposure to X-rays.

Interpretation of X-ray absorption spectra of As(III) in solution using Monte Carlo simulations.

We performed X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements on the arsenic K-edge of As(III) in solution under acidic conditions. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray near edge structure (XANES) spectra were compared with theoretical calculations which use local atomic structure configurations, either derived from density functional theory (DFT) energy minimization (EM) calculations or based on classical Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, for a As(OH)3 cluster surrounded by water molecules. The nearest arsenic-oxygen distances obtained from the fit of the XAFS spectra are consistent with the distances present in configurations derived from Monte Carlo simulations but not with those obtained from DFT-EM calculations. Calculations of XANES using either DFT-EM or the average configuration obtained from MC simulations do not reproduce the XANES spectra in the vicinity of the absorption edge. However, specific local atomic structural configurations of the As(OH)3 and water molecules, obtained from MC simulations, which show some ordering of water molecules up to 5 Å from the arsenic, reproduce qualitatively the experimental spectra. These results highlight the capability of XANES to yield information about hydration of ions in solution.