Clay Materials and Clay-Rich Soils for Sorption and Immobilization of Toxic Metals and Radionuclides: Mechanisms and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Soil clay materials and clay-rich soils play a crucial role in mitigating environmental contamination by toxic metals and radionuclides. These soils can immobilize contaminants through sorption, ion exchange, and complexation processes, reducing their mobility and bioavailability. At the same time, the presence of heavy metals and radionuclides can alter the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of clay-rich soils, potentially affecting their engineering performance, e.g., as barriers or containment layers. Understanding both the retention mechanisms and the impacts of contaminants on soil properties is essential for protecting ecosystems, human health, and the functionality of engineered soil systems, particularly in areas affected by industrial, mining, or nuclear activities.

This Special Issue will focus on the environmental and engineering implications of clay-based soils in the sorption and immobilization of hazardous substances, including the following:

• Heavy and potentially toxic metals (PTMs);
• Radionuclides;
• Emerging contaminants that may interact with clay surfaces.

Heavy metals and radionuclides can accumulate in organisms, posing long-term risks to human health and the environment. Additionally, contaminant-induced changes in soil properties—such as swelling, permeability, or shear strength—can compromise the effectiveness of clay barriers and other engineered soil structures. The effective characterization of clay materials, their interaction with contaminants, and the effects on soil engineering parameters is therefore critical for environmental risk assessment, remediation strategies, and sustainable soil management.

We welcome original research and review articles on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Sorption, immobilization, and transport mechanisms of metals and radionuclides in clay-rich soils;
• Characterization of clay minerals and their roles in contaminant retention and engineering performance;
• Modeling and machine learning approaches to predict sorption capacity, environmental behavior, and changes in soil mechanical properties;
• Engineering applications for the remediation, stabilization, and preservation of functional soil barriers;
• Long-term environmental and engineering impacts of metal and radionuclide contamination in clay-rich soils.

Dr. Edyta Nartowska
Dr. Mária Kaňuchová
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• clay-rich soils
• clay minerals
• toxic metals
• radionuclides
• contaminant immobilization
• sorption mechanisms
• soil engineering properties
• soil remediation
• environmental risk assessment
• machine learning in soil science