Immobilization of Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, and Cd2+ during geopolymerization

The present research explored the application of geopolymerization for the immobilization and solidification of heavy metal added into metakaolinte. The compressive strength of geopolymers was controlled by the dosage of heavy metal cations, and geopolymers have a toleration limit for heavy metals. The influence of alkaline activator dosage and type on the heavy metal ion immobilization efficiency of metakaolinte-based geopolymer was investigated. A geopolymer with the highest heavy metal immobilization efficiency was identified to occur at an intermediate Na₂SiO₃ dosage and the metal immobilization efficiency showed an orderly increase with the increasing Na⁺ dosage. Geopolymers with and without heavy metals were analyzed by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. No crystalline phase containing heavy metals was detected in geopolymers with heavy metal, suggesting that the crystalline phase containing heavy metals is not produced or most of the phases incorporating heavy metals are amorphous. FTIR spectroscopy showed that, with increasing heavy metal addition, an increase in NO3- peak intensity was observed, which was accompanied by a decrease in the CO32- peak.