Alternative plant extracts were examined as raw materials for the synthesis of nZVI from ferric solutions. Four plants were selected for evaluation, i.e. Camellia sinensis (green tea, GT), Syzygium aromaticum (clove, CL), Mentha spicata (spearmint, SM) and Punica granatum (pomegranate, PG). Based on the results obtained, it was concluded that the reduction of Fe(III) with the herb extracts is not complete. Using the GT extract, approximately 28 mM of the initial 66 mM of Fe (42.4 %) are reduced to the elemental state Fe(0). The highest reduction of Fe(III), about 53 %, was achieved with PG and the lowest, only 15.6 %, with the SM extract. Additional batch experiments have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of nZVI, synthesized with GT, CL, SM and PG, for the removal of hexavalent chromium from a 0.96 mM solution. The highest reduction of Cr(VI) (96 %) was obtained using the nZVI suspension produced with PG juice. The other three nZVI suspensions, i.e. CL-nZVI, GT-nZVI, and SM-nZVI, had a comparable effectiveness corresponding to 70 % reduction of chromate.

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Leaching experiments were performed in calcium aluminate slag with a high-sodium carbonate adaptation of the Pedersen process. A theoretical thermodynamic study of the pregnant leaching solution was conducted to specify the thermodynamically favored species that exist within. Using the HSC 9.0 software, a carbonation process simulation (neutralization of the aluminate solution with CO2 gas) was simulated. Laboratory carbonation experiments were conducted to verify the theoretical predictions. According to the thermodynamic study, at temperatures below 50 °C gibbsite precipitates in the first stages of carbonation and then is transformed to dawsonite. Temperatures over 65 °C favor the direct precipitation of dawsonite. The same route (thermodynamic analysis, carbonation simulation, and experimental verification) was followed by a synthetic solution containing lower amount of sodium carbonate to prove that dawsonite precipitation occurred as a result of the high free carbonate content, to investigate the effect of temperature and to precipitate alumina hydrate phases. Graphical Abstract

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