Abstract
The adsorption of Cd by sand-attapulgite cutoff wall backfill media was investigated with batch experiments for different quantities of attapulgite in the mixture (30%, 40%, 60%, and 100%; dry weight). The adsorption capacity of the media for Cd increased with the increase of attapulgite content (Ap). The change of adsorbed amount (qt) with time (t) exhibited two-stage behavior, with more than 80% of the final qt attained in the first 30 min of the experiments. The Elovich equation was the most suitable for describing the adsorption kinetics of Cd by the sand-attapulgite media. The isotherm data were best fit by the Freundlich equation. Analysis of the results indicates that cation exchange was the major adsorption mechanism. The theoretical maximum adsorption capacities (qm) of the sand-attapulgite media for Cd calculated by the Langmuir isotherm model are 6311 mg/kg (Ap = 30%), 6437 mg/kg (Ap = 40%), 6534 mg/kg (Ap = 60%), and 7034 mg/kg (Ap = 100%). The removal percentage (RP) and the distribution coefficient (Kd) of Cd decreased with the increase of the initial Cd concentration (C0) in the solution. An empirical equation for predicting Kd in terms of Ap and C0 was developed: log(Kd) = − 1.22log(C0) + 0.71Ap + 4.17 (r2 = 0.924). This equation can be used to estimate the distribution coefficient of Cd for sand-attapulgite backfill media. This will provide valuable parameters for the study of Cd transport in the sand-attapulgite cutoff wall media, and for the design of such systems for management of landfill leachate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Álvarez-Ayuso, E., & García-Sánchez, A. (2007). Removal of cadmium from aqueous solutions by palygorskite. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 147(1-2), 594–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2007.01.055.
ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials). (2008). Standard test method for 24-h batch-type measurement of contaminant sorption by soils and sediments, D 4646-03. PA: West Conshohocken.
Bayat, B. (2002). Comparative study of adsorption properties of Turkish fly ashes: II. The case of chromium (VI) and cadmium (II). Journal of Hazardous Materials, 95(3), 275–290.
Chegenizadeh, A., Keramatikerman, M., Dalla Santa, G., & Nikraz, A. (2018). Influence of recycled tyre amendment on the mechanical behaviour of soil-bentonite cut-off walls. Journal of Cleaner Production, 177, 507–515.
Chen, H., & Wang, A. Q. (2009). Adsorption characteristics of Cu (II) from aqueous solution onto poly (acrylamide)/attapulgite composite. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 165(1-3), 223–231.
Chen, Y., Zhan, L. T., & Gao, W. (2019). Waste mechanics and sustainable landfilling technology: comparison between HFWC and LFWC MSWs. In L. Zhan, Y. Chen, & A. Bouazza (Eds.), Proceedings of the 8th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics Volume 1. ICEG 2018, Environmental Science and Engineering. Singapore: Springer.
Cheung, C. W., Porter, J. F., & McKay, G. (2000a). Elovich equation and modified second-order equation for sorption of cadmium ions onto bone char. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, 75(11), 963–970.
Cheung, C. W., Porter, J. F., & McKay, G. (2000b). Sorption kinetics for the removal of copper and zinc from effluents using bone char. Separation and Purification Technology, 19(1-2), 55–64.
D’Appolonia, D. J. (1980). Soil-bentonite slurry trench cutoffs. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 106(4), 399–417.
Dada, A. O., Olalekan, A. P., Olatunya, A. M., & Dada, O. (2012). Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms studies of equilibrium sorption of Zn2+ unto phosphoric acid modified rice husk. IOSR Journal of Applied Chemistry, 3(1), 38–45.
Day, S. R. (1994). The compatibility of slurry cutoff wall materials with contaminated groundwater. In D. E. Daniel & S. J. Trautwein (Eds.), Hydraulic conductivity and waste contaminant transport in soils, ASTM STP 1142. West Conshohocken: American Society for Testing and Materials.
Dong, L., Lin, L., Li, Q. Y., Huang, Z., Tang, X. Q., Wu, M., Li, C., Cao, X. H., & Scholz, M. (2018). Enhanced nitrate-nitrogen removal by modified attapulgite-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron treating simulated groundwater. Journal of Environmental Management, 213, 151–158.
Du, Y. J., Fan, R. D., Reddy, K. R., Liu, S. Y., & Yang, Y. L. (2015a). Impacts of presence of lead contamination in clayey soil–calcium bentonite cutoff wall backfills. Applied Clay Science, 108(5), 111–122.
Du, Y. J., Fan, R. D., Liu, S. Y., Reddy, K. R., & Jin, F. (2015b). Workability, compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of zeolite amended clayey soil/calcium-bentonite backfills for slurry-trench cutoff walls. Engineering Geology, 195, 258–268.
Dubinin, M. M., & Radushkevich, L. V. (1947). The equation of the characteristic curve of activated charcoal. Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences. Physical Chemistry Section, 55, 331–337.
Evans, J. C., Prince, M. J. (1997). Additive effectiveness in minerally-enhanced slurry walls. ASCE Specialty Conference on In Situ Remediation of the Geoenvironment, ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication No. 71.
Evans, J. C., Costa, M. J., & Cooley, B. (1995). The state-of-stress in soil-bentonite slurry trench cutoff walls. In Y. N. Acar & D. E. Daniel (Eds.), Geoenvironment 2000: Characterization, containment, remediation, and performance in environmental geotechnics (pp. 1173–1191). Reston: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Evans, J. C., Adams, T. L., Prince, M. J. (1997). Metals attenuation in minerally-enhanced slurry walls. Proc., 1997 Int. Containment Technology Conf., NTIS (National Technical Information Service), Springfield, VA, 679–687.
Foo, K. Y., & Hameed, B. H. (2010). Insights into the modeling of adsorption isotherm systems. Chemical Engineering Journal, 156(1), 2–10.
Freundlich, H. M. F. (1906). Over the adsorption in solution. Journal of Physical Chemistry, 57, 385–471.
Galan, E. (1996). Properties and applications of palygorskitesepiolite clays. Clay Minerals, 31(4), 443–453.
Giles, C. H., Smith, D., & Huitson, A. (1974). A general treatment and classification of the solute adsorption isotherm. I. Theoretical. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 47(3), 755–765.
Günay, A., Arslankaya, E., & Tosun, I. (2007). Lead removal from aqueous solution by natural and pretreated clinoptilolite: adsorption equilibrium and kinetics. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 146(1-2), 362–371.
Gupta, S. S., & Bhattacharyya, K. G. (2006). Removal of Cd (II) from aqueous solution by kaolinite, montmorillonite and their poly (oxo zirconium) and tetrabutylammonium derivatives. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 128(2-3), 247–257.
Haden, W. L., & Schwint, I. A. (1967). Attapulgite: its properties and applications. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, 59(9), 58–69.
Hamidpour, M., Kalbasi, M., Afyuni, M., Shariatmadari, H., & Furrer, G. (2011). Sorption of lead on Iranian bentonite and zeolite: kinetics and isotherms. Environmental Earth Sciences, 62(3), 559–568.
Helfferich, F. (1962). Ion-exchange (pp. 260–262). New-York: McGraw-Hill.
Ho, Y. S., & McKay, G. (1999). Pseudo-second order model for sorption processes. Process Biochem, 34, 451–465.
Ho, Y. S., Ng, J. C. Y., & McKay, G. (2000). Kinetics of pollutant sorption by biosorbents. Separation and Purification Methods, 29(2), 189–232.
Hojati, S., & Khademi, H. (2013). Cadmium sorption from aqueous solutions onto Iranian sepiolite: kinetics and isotherms. Journal of Central South University, 20(12).
Hong, C. S., & Shackelford, C. D. (2017a). Long-term column testing of zeolite-amended backfills. I: testing methodology and chemical compatibility. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(9), 04017050.
Hong, C. S., & Shackelford, C. D. (2017b). Long-term column testing of zeolite-amended backfills. II: solute transport properties. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 143(9), 04017051.
Hong, C. S., Shackelford, C. D., & Malusis, M. A. (2012). Consolidation and hydraulic conductivity of zeolite-amended soilbentonite backfills. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 138(1), 15–25.
Hong, C. S., Shackelford, C. D., & Malusis, M. A. (2016). Adsorptive behavior of zeolite-amended backfills for enhanced metals containment. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 142(7), 04016021.
Lagergren, S. (1898). About the theory of so-called adsorption of soluble substances. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens Handlingar, 24, 1–39.
Laner, D., Fellner, J., & Brunner, P. H. (2012). Site-specific criteria for the completion of landfill aftercare. Waste Management & Research, 30(S9), 88–99.
Langmuir, I. (1916). The constitution and fundamental properties of solids and liquids. Part I. Solids. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 38(11), 2221–2295.
Liang, X. F., Han, J., Xu, Y. M., Sun, Y. B., Wang, L., & Tan, X. (2014a). In situ field-scale remediation of Cd polluted paddy soil using sepiolite and palygorskite. Geoderma, 235, 9–18.
Liang, X. F., Han, J., Xu, Y. M., Wang, L., Sun, Y. B., & Tan, X. (2014b). Sorption of Cd2+ on mercapto and amino functionalized palygorskite. Applied Surface Science, 322, 194–201.
Lo, I. M. C., & Yang, X. Y. (2001). Use of organoclay as secondary containment for gasoline storage tanks. Journal of Environmental Engineering, 127(2), 154–161.
Low, M. J. D. (1960). Kinetics of chemisorption of gases on solids. Chemical Reviews, 60(3), 267–312.
Malusis, M. A., & McKeehan, M. D. (2013). Chemical compatibility of model soil-bentonite backfill containing multiswellable bentonite. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 139(2), 189–198.
Malusis, M. A., Barben, E. J., & Evans, J. C. (2009). Hydraulic conductivity and compressibility of soil-bentonite backfill amended with activated carbon. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 135(5), 664–672.
McBride, M. B. (1994). Environmental chemistry of soils. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mckay, G., Blair, H. S., & Gardner, J. R. (1982). Adsorption of dyes on chitin. I. Equilibrium studies. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 27(8), 3043–3057.
Mishra, A. K., Ohtsubo, M., Li, L. Y., Higashi, T., & Park, J. (2009). Effect of salt of various concentrations on liquid limit, and hydraulic conductivity of different soil-bentonite mixtures. Environmental Geology, 57(5), 1145–1153.
Murray, H. H. (2000). Traditional and new applications for kaolin, smectite, and palygorskite: a general overview. Applied Clay Science, 17(5-6), 207–221.
Nath, R., Prasad, R., Palinal, V. K., & Chopra, R. K. (1984). Molecular basis of cadmium toxicity. Progress in Food & Nutrition Science, 8(1-2), 109–163.
Neaman, A., & Singer, A. (2004). Possible use of the Sacalum (Yucatan) palygorskite as drilling muds. Applied Clay Science, 25(1-2), 121–124.
Nordberg, G. F. (1974). Health hazards of environmental cadmium pollution. Ambio, 3, 51–65.
Rusmin, R., Sarkar, B., Biswas, B., Churchman, J., Liu, Y. J., & Naidu, R. (2016). Structural, electrokinetic and surface properties of activated palygorskite for environmental application. Applied Clay Science, 134, 95–102.
Ryan, C. R. (1987). Soil-bentonite cutoff walls. In R. D. Woods (Ed.), Geotechnical Practice for Waste Disposal’87 (pp. 182–204). New York: American Society of Civil Engineers.
Santillan-Medrano, J., & Jurinak, J. J. (1975). The chemistry of lead and cadmium in soil: solid phase formation 1. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 39(5), 851–856.
Sharma, H. D., & Reddy, K. R. (2004). Geoenvironmental engineering: site remediation, waste containment, and emerging waste management technologies. Hoboken: Wiley.
Sreedharan, V., & Puvvadi, S. (2013). Compressibility behaviour of bentonite and organically modified bentonite slurry. Géotechnique, 63(10), 876–879.
Staessen, J. A., Roels, H. A., Emelianov, D., Kuznetsova, T., Thijs, L., Vangronsveld, J., & Fagard, R. (1999). Environmental exposure to cadmium, forearm bone density, and risk of fractures: prospective population study. Lancet, 353(9159), 1140–1144.
Stern, R. T., & Shackelford, C. D. (1998). Permeation of sandprocessed clay mixtures with calcium chloride solutions. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 12(3), 231–241.
Tallard, G. (1997). Very low conductivity self-hardening slurry for permanent enclosures. International Containment Technology Conference and Exhibition Proceeding, No. CONF-970208—PROC.
Taylor, R. W., Hassan, K., Mehadi, A. A., & Shuford, J. W. (1995). Kinetics of zinc sorpt1on by soils. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 26(11-12).
Tran, H. H., Roddick, F. A., & O’Donnell, J. A. (1999). Comparison of chromatography and desiccant silica gels for the adsorption of metal ions—I. adsorption and kinetics. Water Research, 33(13), 2992–3000.
Wang, X. H., & Wang, A. Q. (2010). Removal of Cd (II) from aqueous solution by a composite hydrogel based on attapulgite. Environmental Technology, 31(7), 745–753.
Wang, W. J., Chen, H., & Wang, A. Q. (2007). Adsorption characteristics of Cd (II) from aqueous solution onto activated palygorskite. Separation and Purification Technology, 55(2), 157–164.
Wang, Y. Z., Chen, Y. M., Xie, H. J., Zhang, C. H., & Zhan, L. T. (2016). Lead adsorption and transport in loess-amended soil-bentonite cut-off wall. Engineering Geology, 215, 69–80.
Weber, W. J., & Morris, J. C. (1963). Kinetics of adsorption on carbon from solution. Journal of Sanitary Engineering Division, 89(2), 31–60.
Xie, H. J., Chen, Y. M., Zhan, L. T., Chen, R. P., Tang, X. W., Chen, R. H., & Ke, H. (2009). Investigation of migration of pollutant at the base of Suzhou Qizishan landfill without a liner system. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A, 10(3), 439–449.
Xie, H. J., Chen, Y. M., Thomas, H. R., Sedighi, M., Masum, S. A., & Ran, Q. H. (2016). Contaminant transport in the sub-surface soil of an uncontrolled landfill site in China: site investigation and two-dimensional numerical analysis. Environmental ence and Pollution Research, 23(3), 2566–2575.
Xie, H. J., Wang, S. Y., Qiu, Z. H., & Jiang, J. Q. (2017). Adsorption of NH4+-N on Chinese loess: non-equilibrium and equilibrium investigations. Journal of Environmental Management, 202, 46–54.
Xie, H. J., Wang, S. Y., Chen, Y. M., Jiang, J. Q., & Qiu, Z. H. (2018). An analytical model for contaminant transport in cut-off wall and aquifer system. Environmental Geotechnics, 1–30.
Xu, C. B., Qi, J., Yang, W. J., Chen, Y., Yang, C., He, Y. L., Wang, J., & Lin, A. J. (2019). Immobilization of heavy metals in vegetable-growing soils using nano zero-valent iron modified attapulgite clay. Science of the Total Environment, 686, 476–483.
Yang, Y. L., Du, Y. J., Reddy, K. R., & Fan, R. D. (2018). Adsorption of Cr (VI) onto SHMP-amended Ca-bentonite backfills for slurry-trench cutoff walls. In Geo Shanghai International Conference (pp. 434–441). Singapore: Springer.
Yang, Y. L., Reddy, K. R., Du, Y. J., & Fan, R. D. (2019). Retention of Pb and Cr(VI) onto slurry trench vertical cutoff wall backfill containing phosphate dispersant amended Ca-bentonite. Applied Clay Science, 168, 355–365.
Ye, H. P., Chen, F. Z., Sheng, Y. Q., Sheng, G. Y., & Fu, J. M. (2006). Adsorption of phosphate from aqueous solution onto modified palygorskites. Separation and Purification Technology, 50(3), 283–290.
Yeo, S. S., Shackelford, C. D., & Evans, J. C. (2005). Consolidation and hydraulic conductivity of nine model soil-bentonite backfills. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 131(10), 1189–1198.
Yong, R. N., Ouhadi, V. R., & Goodarzi, A. R. (2009). Effect of Cu2+ ions and buffering capacity on smectite microstructure and performance. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 135(12), 1981–1985.
Zhan, T. L. T., Guan, C., Xie, H. J., & Chen, Y. M. (2014). Vertical migration of leachate pollutants in clayey soils beneath an uncontrolled landfill at Huainan, China: a field and theoretical investigation. Science of the Total Environment, 470-471(FEB.1), 290–298.
Zhang, W. B., Rao, W. B., Li, L., Liu, Y., Wang, S., Jin, K., & Zheng, F. W. (2019). Compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of sand-attapulgite cut-off wall backfills. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A, 20(3), 218–228.
Zhu, W., Xu, H. Q., Wang, S. W., Fan, X. H. (2014). Hydraulic conductivity of model clay-based cut-off wall backfills. Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics, pp1516-1523.
Zhu, W., Xu, H. Q., Wang, S. W., & Fan, X. H. (2016). Influence of CaCl2 solution on the permeability of different clay-based cutoff walls. Rock and Soil Mechanics, 37(5), 1224–1230 (in Chinese with English Abstract).
Acknowledgments
The authors would also like to thank Drs. Zhimin Jia and Tao Tan for laboratory assistance.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20191304) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2019B45414). The contributions of Mark Brusseau were supported by the NIEHS SRP.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, W., Rao, W., Li, L. et al. Adsorption of Cadmium onto Sand-Attapulgite Cutoff Wall Backfill Media. Water Air Soil Pollut 232, 47 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-04981-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-021-04981-z