Analysis of the Transport Number of Cadmium and Lead from an Extract of Soils Contaminated with Mining Seals through a Commercial Membrane

Abstract

The historical contamination of soils by heavy metals shows little degradation and therefore they are considered as persistent bioaccumulative toxins, which represent a marked risk to human health ecosystems. In recent years, technologies have been developed to help alleviate the problem of contaminated soils. The methods developed have mainly focused on in situ remediation, among which electro remediation stands out for both organic and inorganic pollutants. The present work aims to analyze variables for the treatment of soils with heavy metals using electrochemical strategies with the application of commercial membranes. The analysis made it possible to determine the transition zone where the depletion of the counterion occurs in the diffusion layer of the cadmium and lead ion. The results of the limit current analysis in the membrane reflect the presence of a mixture of ions where the diffusion layer is altered by the mixture of ions present. The results suggest that the membrane presents fouling of complexing organic compounds in the diffusion layer and therefore behaves like a reactive membrane where the permeation channels and the fixed charge change their original function.