Lead smelting slag (LSS) has been identified as general industrial solid waste, which is produced from the pyrometallurgical treatment of the Shuikoushan process for primary lead production in China. The LSS-based geopolymer was synthesized after high-energy ball milling. The effect of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) on the synthesis parameters of the geopolymer was optimized. Under the best parameters of the geopolymer (modulus of water glass was 1-1.5, dosage of water glass (W(SiO2+Na2O)) was 5% and water-to-binder ratio was 0.2), the UCS reached 76.09 MPa after curing for 28 days. The toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) leaching concentration of Zn from LSS fell from 167.16 to 93.99 mg/L after alkali-activation, which was below the limit allowed. Meanwhile, C-S-H and the geopolymer of the hydration products were identified from the geopolymer. In addition, the behavior of iron was also discussed. Then, the hydration process characteristics of the LSS-based geopolymer were proposed. The obtained results showed that Ca2+ and Fe2+ occupied the site of the network as modifiers in the glass phase and then dissociated from the glass network after the water glass activation. At the same time, C-S-H, the geopolymer and Fe(OH)2 gel were produced, and then the Fe(OH)2 was easily oxidized to Fe(OH)3 under the air curing conditions. Consequently, the conclusion was drawn that LSS was an implementable raw material for geopolymer production.
Keywords: geopolymer; hydration characteristic; immobilization; iron behavior; lead smelting slag.