[Immobilization of heavy metal Pb2+ with geopolymer]

A series of geopolymers were synthesized by mixing metakaolinite, water glass, sodium hydroxide and water, and the lead ion solidification experiments were performed with the geopolymer. Then, the immobilization efficiency was characterized by monitoring the leaching concentration and compressive strength of solidified products. Additionally, the structure and properties of the solidified products were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Furthermore, based on the analysis of immobilization efficiency, microstructure and mineral structure, the difference between geopolymer and cement on the performance of immobilizing heavy metals was discussed. The results of lead ion immobilization experiments showed that over 99.7% of heavy metal was captured by the geopolymer as the doping concentration of lead ion was less than 3%. Meanwhile, the compressive strength of the solidified product ranged from 40 MPa to 50 MPa. Furthermore, by using the same Pb2+ concentration, the geopolymer showed higher compressive strength and lower leaching concentration compared to the cement. Because lead ion participated in constitution of structure of geopolymer, or Pb2+ was adsorbed by the aluminium ions on the geopolymeric skeleton and held in geopolymer. However, cement mainly solidified lead ion by physical encapsulation and adsorption mechanism. Therefore, both from the compressive strength and leaching concentration and from the microstructure characterization as well as the mechanism of the geopolymerization reaction, the geopolymer has more advantages in immobilizing Pb2+ than the cement.