Effect of humus on the remediation of arsenic-contaminated soil by electrokinetic technology

Abstract

The effect of humus on the remediation of arsenic (As)-contaminated soil by electrokinetic technology was investigated in this study. The results showed electromigration regulated the spread of As in soil and the addition of humus significantly promoted the release of As from the soil during electrokinetic remediation (EKR). The remediation efficiency was obviously enhanced by 20% when the added amount of humus was 4g. The removal efficiency was also improved with the increase of running time. The results of functional group analysis of humus indicated the presence of several oxygen-containing functional groups, which desorbed As from the soil particles under both acidic and base conditions. When the pH was 10, approximately 11.63% of bonded As was desorbed as free As, which was in favor of EKR. The main result of this work suggests that humus can be used as a green agent to improve the EKR technology.