Temperature‐Driven Electrochemical Mechanisms Governing Soil Aggregate Stability and Particle Transport in Lou Soil

ABSTRACT Understanding how temperature affects soil aggregate stability provides critical insights for climate modelers, soil scientists, and land managers seeking to predict soil structural responses under warming scenarios, particularly in ecologically fragile regions experiencing signifcant warming trends. This study investigated the electrochemical mechanisms underlying temperature‐driven changes in soil aggregate stability using controlled column experiments with Lou soil. Contrary to conventional expectation that thermal stress destabilizes soil structure, elevated temperature (45°C) significantly enhanced aggregate stability compared with lower temperatures (4°C and 25°C). Mechanistic analysis revealed that temperature‐dependent variations in soil internal forces, specifically van der Waals attractive pressure and electrostatic repulsive pressure, were the primary drivers. Although the electrostatic repulsive pressure increased with temperature, the Hamaker constant rose from 3.65 × 10 −20 J (4°C) to 5.92 × 10 −20 J (45°C), thereby enhancing the van der Waals attractive pressure so that the net interaction within 2 nm was governed by the strengthened attractive component. Aqueous solution density, gravitational forces, and Brownian motion exerted negligible effects. Lastly, the study elaborated on how colloidal‐scale electrochemical interactions govern macroscale aggregate behavior, bridging microscopic mechanisms with field‐scale soil stability. These findings elucidate novel mechanistic underpinnings and previously unrecognized micro‐scale processes governing temperature‐induced aggregate stability, thereby advancing the theoretical understanding of macroscopic soil structural dynamics under climate change.