Natural cobalt–manganese oxide nanoparticles: speciation, detection and implications for cobalt cycling

Abstract

Environmental context. Cobalt is a technologically critical element due to its uses in the green energy transition, but its cycling is poorly constrained in surface environments. We determined the form of cobalt in naturally enriched soils and found that it is commonly associated with manganese as mixed oxide nanoparticles. These findings demonstrate that the behaviour of critical elements such as cobalt in the environment is in part governed at the nanoscale.