EXAFS study of copper in waste incineration fly ashes

Copper species such as CuCO3, Cu(OH)2, CuS and CuO were found in the bag house and EP (electrostatic precipitator) fly ashes of waste incineration processes by X-ray absorption near edge structural (XANES) spectroscopy. A small amount of Cu(I) and metallic Cu was found in the bag house fly ash. The averaged Cu-O bond distance in the fly ashes determined by EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structural) was 1.96 A with coordination numbers of 2.4-3.9. However, the Cu-(O)-Cu (2nd shell) bond distance of the fly ashes in the incineration process was decreased by 0.19-0.21 A if compared to that of the CuO standard. The coordination numbers of the 2nd shell contribution to the bag house fly ash were not very significant.