Both
alkaline heavy metal (HM) contaminated red mud (RM) recycling
and Cr(VI) polluted soil remediation are severe hazardous environmental
problems. Herein, we developed a novel integrated approach to neutralize
and stabilize the hazardous RM via the introduction of Ca2+ and Cl– dual ions. When 3% CaCl2·2H2O is added, the pH of RM is reduced from 11.0 to 8.9, and
the Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu, and As leaching concentrations from RM are suppressed
lower than the environmental standards of China and the World Health
Organization (Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu < 0.50 mg/L; As < 10 μg/L).
Detailed mechanism studies reveal that the pH neutralization is attributed
to the novel OH– flocculation effect ascribing to
Ca2+ charge neutralization and Cl– promoted
proton neutralization. Furthermore, as the pH decreases, the HM adsorption
capacity of RM is enhanced, achieving stable HM immobilization. The
treated RM can be further employed to remediate Cr(VI) contaminated
soil (Cr concentration 570 ppm; treated RM weight percentage in soil
5.0%), which can suppress 56.0% Cr mobility in soil and 68.4% bioaccumulated
Cr in the harvested vegetables. Overall, this work demonstrates an
ecofriendly “waste-to-soil remediation” strategy to
solve both the solid waste and soil pollution problems.