Comparison of Copper Scavenging Capacity between Two Different Red Mud Types

doi:10.3390/ma5091708

This article is

freely available
re-usable

Materials 2012, 5(9), 1708-1721; doi:10.3390/ma5091708

Article

Comparison of Copper Scavenging Capacity between Two Different Red Mud Types

Yingqun Ma^1,3, Chunhua Si¹ and Chuxia Lin^2,*

¹ Centre for Ecological and Environmental Technologies, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China ² Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba QLD 4350, Australia ³ Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 27 July 2012; in revised form: 28 August 2012 / Accepted: 3 September 2012 / Published: 24 September 2012

Download PDF Full-Text [1307 KB, uploaded 24 September 2012 08:41 CEST]

Abstract: A batch experiment was conducted to compare the Cu scavenging capacity between two different red mud types: the first one was a highly basic red mud derived from a combined sintering and Bayer process, and the second one was a seawater-neutralized red mud derived from the Bayer process. The first red mud contained substantial amounts of CaCO₃, which, in combination with the high OH⁻ activity, favored the immobilization of water-borne Cu through massive formation of atacamite. In comparison, the seawater-neutralized red mud had a lower pH and was dominated by boehmite, which was likely to play a significant role in Cu adsorption. Overall, it appears that Cu was more tightly retained by the CaCO₃-dominated red mud than the boehmite-dominated red mud. It is concluded that the heterogeneity of red mud has marked influences on its capacity to immobilize water-borne Cu and maintain the long-term stability of the immobilized Cu species. The research findings obtained from this study have implications for the development of Cu immobilization technology by using appropriate waste materials generated from the aluminium industry.

Keywords: alumina; bauxite; red mud; calcite; alkaline; copper; boehmite; atacamite; metal immobilization

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Ma, Y.; Si, C.; Lin, C. Comparison of Copper Scavenging Capacity between Two Different Red Mud Types. Materials 2012, 5, 1708-1721.

AMA Style

Ma Y, Si C, Lin C. Comparison of Copper Scavenging Capacity between Two Different Red Mud Types. Materials. 2012; 5(9):1708-1721.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ma, Yingqun; Si, Chunhua; Lin, Chuxia. 2012. "Comparison of Copper Scavenging Capacity between Two Different Red Mud Types." Materials 5, no. 9: 1708-1721.

Materials EISSN 1996-1944 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert