Stabilization/Solidification of Zinc- and Lead-Contaminated Soil Using Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC 3 ): An Environmentally Friendly Alternative

Vemula Anand Reddy, Chandresh H. Solanki, Shailendra Kumar, Krishna R. Reddy and Yan-Jun Du
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Vemula Anand Reddy: Civil Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat 395007, India
Chandresh H. Solanki: Civil Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat 395007, India
Shailendra Kumar: Civil Engineering Department, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat 395007, India
Krishna R. Reddy: Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Yan-Jun Du: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Due to increased carbon emissions, the use of low-carbon and low-cost cementitious materials that are sustainable and effective are gaining considerable attention recently for the stabilization/solidification (S/S) of contaminated soils. The current study presents the laboratory investigation of low-carbon/cost cementitious material known as limestone-calcined clay cement (LC 3 ) for the potential S/S of Zn- and Pb-contaminated soils. The S/S performance of the LC 3 binder on Zn- and Pb-contaminated soil was determined via pH, compressive strength, toxicity leaching, chemical speciation, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) analyses. The results indicate that immobilization efficiency of Zn and Pb was solely dependent on the pH of the soil. In fact, with the increase in the pH values after 14 days, the compressive strength was increased to 2.5–3 times compared to untreated soil. The S/S efficiency was approximately 88% and 99%, with increase in the residual phases up to 67% and 58% for Zn and Pb, respectively, after 28 days of curing. The increase in the immobilization efficiency and strength was supported by the XRPD analysis in forming insoluble metals hydroxides such as zincwoodwardite, shannonite, portlandite, haturite, anorthite, ettringite (Aft), and calcite. Therefore, LC 3 was shown to offer green and sustainable remediation of Zn- and Pb-contaminated soils, while the treated soil can also be used as safe and environmentally friendly construction material.

Keywords: low carbon materials; heavy metal immobilization; sustainable remediation; environmentally friendly materials (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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