Remediation of Arsenic Contaminated Soils and Treatment of Washing Effluent Using Calcined Mn-Fe Layered Double Hydroxide

Abstract

Arsenic contaminated soil is a serious worldwide problem nowadays, and soil washing technique is one of hottest topics in the area of remediating arsenic contaminated soils, while treatment of the washing effluent is still an urgent problem. In this study, in order to select the best washing extractants for arsenic contaminated soil of the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, nine kinds of extractants (citric acid, oxalic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, H3PO4, KH2PO4, KOH, NH4Ac and ultra-pure water) were studied. Innovatively, a new material (calcined Mn-Fe Layered double hydroxide) was firstly introduced and fully applied to the adsorption of arsenic washing effluents. Results showed citric acid, oxalic acid and KH2PO4 were the optimal extractants for arsenic contaminated soil, considering the extraction rate and environmental perspective. When the concentrations were 200, 300, 300 mmol/ L , solution soil ratios were 10, 10, 20 mL/g , extraction times were 12,12,12 h, the citric acid, oxalic acid and KH2PO4, respectively, achieved the maximum extraction rate of 39%, 65% and 29%. Calcined Mn-Fe LDH used in this work was characterized by SEM and FT-IR, indicating the unique structure and high phase purity of the synthetic samples. For the 28mg/L arsenic effluent washing by citric acid, calcined Mn-Fe LDH showed the most effective capacity as adsorbent under neutral or weak base condition as well as 2 h absorption time.