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Preparation of phosphogypsum-copper smelting slag-based consolidating body with high compressive strength

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Abstract

Phosphogypsum (PG) is an industrial waste residue produced during the production of phosphoric acid through the wet process. With strong acidity and a large amount of toxic impurities, PG is difficult to reuse. In this study, the solidified body (PG-S) was made by mechanical compression of the mixture of PG, copper smelting slag (CSS), CaO, NaOH, and water. Results indicate that the composition of the material phases in the PG-S samples changed with hydrated calcium silicate and amorphous silicate derivatives were formed during the reaction; Fe and Ca in the material were transformed; and the prepared geopolymer material had a dense internal structure with the materials being cemented to each other. The highest compressive strength of PG-S cured for 28 days could reach 21.3 MPa with a fixation efficiency of PO43-and F-reaching 99.81 and 94.10%, respectively. The leaching concentration of heavy metals of the PG-S cured for 28 days met the requirements of the Comprehensive Wastewater Discharge Standard (GB 8978-1996). The simulation results of the geochemical model verified the feasibility of the whole immobilization process from the thermodynamic point of view. This work directly uses copper smelting slag and phosphogypsum for coupled immobilization/stabilization treatment not only to achieve the immobilization of pollutants in both solid wastes but also to obtain colloidal masses with certain compressive strength, which also provides a new option for resource utilization of phosphogypsum and copper smelting slag. This work also shows great potential in turning the actual mine backfill into cementitious material.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Major Innovation Projects of Hubei Province of China (2019ACA156) and Dajiang Co,LTD (HZY21040, China).

Funding

The study was funded by the Major Innovation Projects of Hubei Province (2019ACA156) and the Dajiang Co, LTD (HZY21040, China).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Province Engineering Research Center for Control and Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, College of Resources and Environmental Science, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    **angqun Xu, Wei Wang, Chenyang Lv, Mengyu Ma, Leqi Shi & Dongyun Du

  2. Key Laboratory of Catalysis and Energy Materials Chemistry of Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    **angqun Xu, Wei Wang, Chenyang Lv, Mengyu Ma, Leqi Shi & Dongyun Du

  3. Civil & Environmental Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Omaha, NE, 68182, USA

    Tian C. Zhang

  4. Hubei Dajiang Environmental Co., LTD, Huangshi, People’s Republic of China

    Honghai Shen

Authors
  1. **angqun Xu
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  2. Wei Wang
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  3. Chenyang Lv
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  4. Mengyu Ma
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  5. Leqi Shi
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  6. Dongyun Du
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  7. Tian C. Zhang
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  8. Honghai Shen
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by **angqun Xu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by **angqun Xu, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dongyun Du.

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Xu, X., Wang, W., Lv, C. et al. Preparation of phosphogypsum-copper smelting slag-based consolidating body with high compressive strength. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 42075–42086 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-25241-z

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