Solidification/stabilization of cadmium contaminated bentonite by the use of cement, impact of nano-silica upon this process

In recent years, the use of nano-materials in different engineering and science projects has increased. The study of the impact of nano-materials in combination with other civil engineering constituents in different geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering projects is very common. This study is aimed to investigate the mechanism of cadmium retention in the process of cement based solidification/stabilization of cadmium contaminated bentonite in the presence of nano-silica. The mechanism of contaminant retention is investigated with the evaluation of cadmium and nano-silica behaviour with change in pH of the environment, adsorption, TCLP results, and evaluation of XRD experimental achievements. The bentonite sample for this research is taken from Iran-Barit Company. To establish the availability of silica ions for interaction with cement and bentonite at different pH, a series of solubility experiments of nano-silica at different pH levels were performed. The results of solubility experiments show that as the pH increases to the alkaline range, the solubility of nano-silica noticeably increases. This fact proves that at the high range of pH due to the use of cement, the required pH conditions for solubility of nano-silica will be provided. Therefore, there will be more possibility for the formation of CSH component. Cadmium nitrate was used to contaminate the bentonite sample for the experimental part. For this purpose, bentonite samples were mixed with 10, 30, and 50 cmol/kg-soil of cadmium nitrate in the electrolyte soil ratio of 20:1. Then, these samples were shaken for two hours in every 24 hours. This process was repeated for 96 hours. After this equilibrium step, the soil suspension was centrifuged. After drying these laboratory contaminated samples, they were solidified/stabilized with different percentages of cement and nano-silica. The results of this paper indicate that the contaminant adsorption and retention of cadmium by bentonite is less than that of adsorption for zinc and lead. The achieved results of TCLP experiments for solidified/stabilized samples with different percentages of cement indicate that the EPA criteria for TCLP experiment which emphasizes for test performance after 28 days, is not suitable for solidification and stabilization of cadmium. In fact, a longer period is necessary to achieve equilibrium and stable results. Furthermore, the results show that due to the low adsorption of cadmium by bentonite and due to the noticeable reduction of pH at the presence of cadmium ions, the required percentages of cement for solidification/stabilization of cadmium contaminated bentonite is much more than the required quantity of cement for other heavy metal contaminated bentonite samples. In addition, the results of XRD experiments show that the pozzolanic interaction process is more efficient in the presence of nano-silica. Furthermore, based on the results of TCLP experiments, the formation of CSH in the presence of nano-silica contributes to the contaminant retention by solidification/stabilization of cement based cadmium contaminated bentonite. Finally, according to the results of this study, in solidified/stabilized samples by mixtures of cement and nano-silica, it is shown that due to the contribution of silica ions in pozzolanic interactions, the solidification is the governing phenomenon for the prevention of heavy metal leachate from solidified/stabilized samples.