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Influences of pretreatment methods on the mechanical and environmental behaviors of PG-GGBS-LM ternary stabilizer

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Abstract

Phosphogypsum is a kind of acidic industrial byproducts with high content of soluble phosphorus and fluorine pollutants, which requires to be pretreated when used as cementitious material to (partial) replace traditional Portland cement. In this study, five different pretreatment methods were proposed for comparative analysis to examine the pretreatment effect on the mechanical and environmental behaviors of ternary phosphogypsum (PG), ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), and lime (LM) mixed stabilizer. Series laboratory tests, including unconfined compressive strength (UCS), pH, phosphorus (P)/fluorine (F) leaching, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests, were conducted to comprehend the macro- and microscopic mechanism. The results show that it is essential to grind raw PG to finer powdered state, so that it reacts more easily and quickly with LM and water. In addition, it was noticed that the UCS and P/F leaching concentration are not only affected by the mixing proportion of the PG-GGBS-LM ternary stabilizer, but also by the curing duration. The UCS increases rapidly from initial curing period and then grows slowly after 28 days of curing. From the perspective of strength evolution, mixing proportion of PG: GGBS: LM = 15:80:5 is optimal, but considering the economy and environmental related issues, PG: GGBS: LM = 30:65:5 was regarded as a more attractive choice. The findings can provide a reference for the selection of pretreatment methods and design of PG-based cementitious materials suited for stabilized soils.

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Abbreviations

C-A-H:

Calcium aluminate hydrates

C-S–H:

Calcium silicate hydrates

F:

Fluorine

GGBS:

Ground granulated blast-furnace slag

LM:

Lime

P:

Phosphorus

PG:

Phosphogypsum

PG-GGBS-LM:

Phosphogypsum, ground granulated blast-furnace slag, and lime ternary stabilizer

PG:

Phosphogypsum

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

UCS:

Unconfined compressive strength

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52209136, 52279102, and 42272322), and the Open Research Program of the Engineering Research Center of Eco-environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of the Ministry of Education (Grant No. KF 2023-05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, 443002, China

    Joseph Roland Essama Atenga, Yunzhi Tan, Jun Wu, Dongming Cai & Wenqi Li

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, China

    Yongfeng Deng

  3. Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Yongfeng Deng

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  1. Joseph Roland Essama Atenga
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  2. Yunzhi Tan
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  4. Jun Wu
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Contributions

Joseph Roland Atenga Essama: Data curation, Writing – original draft, Investigation. Yunzhi Tan: Supervision, Writing – review & editing, Funding acquisition. Yongfeng Deng: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing, Formal analysis. Jun Wu: Supervision, Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing. Dongming Cai: Writing – review & editing. Wenqi Li: Writing – review & editing.

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Correspondence to Jun Wu.

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Essama Atenga, J.R., Tan, Y., Deng, Y. et al. Influences of pretreatment methods on the mechanical and environmental behaviors of PG-GGBS-LM ternary stabilizer. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 37520–37531 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33740-w

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