Zn–Al–CO3 layered double hydroxides prepared from a waste of hot-dip galvanizing process

Abstract

Hot-dip galvanizing process is used worldwide to protect the steel or iron pieces from corrosion. This process is a large generator of waste, considered one of the so-called dirty industries. One of the important wastes, in terms of quantity, is zinc ash that contains a mixture of metallic zinc and zinc oxide with a total content of zinc between 70 and 90%. The aim of this study is the preparation and characterization of a series of Zn R –Al–CO3 (R = 2–4) layered double hydroxides (LDH) by using as zinc precursor the zinc chloride obtained after hydrochloric acid leaching of fine-grained zinc ash. Results presented herein clearly demonstrated that characteristics of the synthesized samples are close to those of similar materials synthesized starting from analytical grade reagents. At the same time, it was observed that impurities existent in the zinc chloride solution prepared by zinc ash leaching (Pb, Fe, Ca), are found at traces in the synthesized LDH materials; therefore, they have no significant influence on the obtained LDH structure and properties. By this approach, several important benefits may be simultaneously achieved: (1) preventing the pollution associated with hot-dip galvanizing process wastes, (2) obtaining of valuable products with minimized costs, keeping in mind that LDH have multiple utilizations at industrial scale, (3) saving energy and material costs, and (4) increase of product competitiveness with respect to the circular economy.