NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Science of the Total Environment. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 463-464 (2013). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.079 1 Abiotic formation of methyl iodide on synthetic birnessite: A 2 mechanistic study 3 4 5 Sébastien Allarda,b,*, Hervé Gallarda 6 7 a Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Poitiers - Université de Poitiers 8 Institut de Chimie des Milieux et des Matériaux UMR 7285 9 1, rue Marcel Doré 86 022 POITIERS Cedex 10 b ‘Present address’ Curtin Water Quality Research Center, Curtin University, GPO Box 11 U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia 12 13 *Corresponding author phone: +61 8 9266 7949, email:
[email protected] 14 15 1 1 Abstract 2 Methyl iodide is a well-known volatile halogenated organic compound that contributes to the 3 iodine content in the troposphere, potentially resulting in damage to the ozone layer. Most 4 methyl iodide sources derive from biological activity in oceans and soils with very few abiotic 5 mechanisms proposed in the literature. In this study we report that synthetic manganese oxide 6 (birnessite MnO2) can catalyze the formation of methyl iodide in the presence of natural 7 organic matter (NOM) and iodide.