Abstract
A large amount of abandoned Pb–Zn tailings piled in the open air is one of the major sources of heavy metal pollution in the surrounding environment because acid rains can create favorable conditions for the leaching of heavy metals (HMs). In this study, the leaching characteristics of HMs from Pb–Zn mine tailings were studied for 150 days by dynamic leaching experiments, and their remediation was performed using three montmorillonite species. The dynamic leaching experiments have shown that HMs (Zn, Mn, As, Pb) can be continuously released from tailings, and the maximum leaching amount of the selected HMs was arranged in the order Zn (14.36 mg/kg) > Mn (12.59 mg/kg) > As (4.05 mg/kg) > Pb (1.81 mg/kg) on the 150th day. The remediation results of HMs showed that natural Na- and Ca-montmorillonite materials exhibit a certain immobilization effect on HMs. The immobilization performance of Ca-montmorillonite could be improved significantly by a simple Na modification treatment, yielding an improvement of 27.27, 10.53, 18.19, and 30.91% for As, Mn, Pb, and Zn, respectively. The immobilization of HMs by montmorillonite was mainly achieved by cation exchange, complexation, and precipitation. The obtained results demonstrate the significant potential of artificial Na-modified montmorillonite for the remediation of HMs against acid rains because of its low cost and high availability.
Highlights
• Dynamics column was used to study the release of heavy metals for 150 days.
• Heavy metals can be continuously released from tailings.
• Lower pH of simulated acid rain could promote release of heavy metals.
• Sodium modification can optimize the persistence immobilization of montmorillonite.
• Cation exchange, complexation, and precipitation are the immobilization mechanisms.
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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
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Funding
This study is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51974096, 52274259), and the Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (No. YCSW2022089).
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Wang, G., Cao, W., Liang, G. et al. Leaching Behavior of Heavy Metals from Pb–Zn Tailings and Remediation by Ca- or Na-Montmorillonite. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06116-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06116-y