Immobilization of cadmium, lead and arsenic in farmland soils by zeolite-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron: Insight into encapsulation mechanisms

Zhangtao Lia, L. Wanga, M. J. Hea, X. M. Liua,* and J. M. Xua

a College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, China

lzt1120@126.com

Following rapid industrialization and modernization in the past decades, widespread heavy metal pollution in China becomes increasingly acute, especially the multi-metal contaminated farmland soils around mining areas. In this study, the low-cost zeolite-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (Z-NZVI) was synthesized from a simplified liquid-phase reduction of iron(III) salts to in-situ simultaneously immobilize the Cd, Pb, and As in the acid and alkaline soils. With a lot of cationic binding sites and mesoporous structures, zeolite had been combined with NZVI to reduce nanoparticle aggregation and improve remediation efficiency. pH of two soils with 30 g kg-1 Z-NZVI amendment significantly increased from 5.1 to 5.8 and 7.9 to 8.1, respectively, due to the oxidation of Fe0 and release of OH-. After 180 d of incubation, compared with control groups, 30 g kg-1 Z-NZVI significantly decreased the available concentrations of Cd, Pb, and As in acid soil by 0.1, 258.4, and 2.1 mg kg-1, which were also significantly decreased in alkaline soil by 1.6, 65.1, and 6.9 mg kg-1. Z-NZVI immobilized DOC and mitigated its decomposition to maintain the higher pH and lower EC in acid and alkaline soils until the end of incubation, hence combining of the advantages of pH-adjusting and adsorption. During the process of incubation, the fractions of these pollutants became more stable. The results of X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy supported that arsenic compound (e.g., AsO43-), Cd2+, and Pb2+ were immobilized by the surface FeOx·(OH)3-2x shell and Fe0 of Z-NZVI through co-precipitation, complexation and reduction. Overall, Z-NZVI has great potential for treating farmland soil multi-contaminated with heavy metals.

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