Heavy
metal containing solid wastes (HMSWs), the byproduct from
industrial activities, bring severe environmental issues and health
risks to human. Separating heavy metals from HMSWs for resourcing
is the most effective way to mitigate their environmental risk. However,
the composition of HMSWs is of great complexity, including various
heavy metals with relatively low concentration, as well as coexisting
phases with different types and inhomogeneous microstructures. These
complexities lead to strong interactions between heavy metals and
coexisting phases, causing the incomplete separation of heavy metals.
Therefore, understanding their microinteractions is a necessary precondition
to realize the full resourcing of HMSWs. This Review focuses on recent
achievements for analyzing such microinteractions. Advanced characterization
techniques are summarized, by which a multidimensional analysis method
is put forward. Then, microinteractions of heavy metals with coexisting
phases are clearly discussed, and three typical interactions of aggregation/encapsulation,
adsorption, and substituted doping are prudently summarized. It is
expected that developing targeted methods to destruct the above interactions
is an efficient way to improve the heavy metal separation. Therefore,
this Review will provide a sufficient understanding of microstructures
in complex HMSWs, which is further expected to promote the technological
development on decontamination of HMSWs.