Adsorption Properties of Waste Building Sludge for Environmental Protection

Waste building sludge (WBS) originating in the production of concrete prestressed poles (CSW) and technical stone (TSW) used in original and Fe-modified forms (CSWFe, TSWFe) was tested as an environmentally friendly and cheap sorbent of selected cations (Cd2+, Pb2+, Cs+) and anions (AsO43-, PO43-, CrO42-) from water. The experiments were performed with 0.1 and 0.5 mmol center dot L-1 model solutions in a batch manner at laboratory temperature. Adsorption data were fitted with the Langmuir model. The adsorption of cations (Pb2+ and Cd2+) ran almost quantitatively (>97%) on both CSW and TSW. Cesium (Cs+) adsorption on TSW reached 80%, while in the case of CSW, it was ineffective. The modification of CSW and TSW with Fe-II (CSWFe and TSWFe) improved their adsorption selectivity to anions by up to 70%. The adsorption of PO43- and AsO43- ran quantitatively (>98%) on modified CSWFe and TSWFe and also on initial CSW, while CrO42- was effectively adsorbed (approximate to 80%) on TSWFe only. The adsorption affinity of tested ions in terms of adsorption capacity and sorbent consumption declined in order as follows: Pb2+ approximate to Cd2+ >> Cs+ for cations and AsO43- approximate to PO43- > CrO42- for anions.

Automated summary

The waste building sludge (WBS) from concrete production showed high adsorption capacity, especially for certain cations. Fe-modified CSWFe and TSWFe demonstrated improved adsorption selectivity for anions. The adsorption capacity and selectivity varied for different ions.