Characterization of Fe-based sediments received from chemical pre-treatment of hydrometallurgical waste leachate from the recycling of alkaline batteries

Zhendong Yang; Joanna Karczewska-Golec; Michal Styczynski; Tomasz Bajda; Lukasz Drewniak

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123988

Characterization of Fe-based sediments received from chemical pre-treatment of hydrometallurgical waste leachate from the recycling of alkaline batteries

J Hazard Mater. 2021 Feb 5:403:123988. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123988. Epub 2020 Sep 17.

Authors

Zhendong Yang¹, Joanna Karczewska-Golec¹, Michal Styczynski¹, Tomasz Bajda², Lukasz Drewniak³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland.
² AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, al. A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
³ Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Miecznikowa 1, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: ldrewniak@biol.uw.edu.pl.

PMID: 33265027
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123988

Abstract

The waste leachate from the hydrometallurgical recycling of spent batteries contains a significant amount of undesirable iron that needs to be precipitated before the recovery of target metals. The produced Fe-sediments are usually disposed of or stored at the treatment site as waste and are often poorly managed. This work estimates the environmental stability and application potential of Fe-sediments produced from highly acidic hydrometallurgical leachate during the recycling of spent alkaline batteries. After pH neutralization of the leachate by Na₂CO₃, a primary Fe-sediment (PFS), mainly composed of highly unstable metal (i.e., Fe, Zn, and Mn) sulfates, was obtained. The subsequent rinsing of this unstable PFS sediment led to the production of a secondary Fe-sediment (SFS), which was composed of an amorphous-phased ferric iron sulfate hydrate - Fe₁₆O₁₆(SO₄)₃(OH)₁₀·10H₂O. The results of single extraction using chemical reagents and biological dissolution by iron-transforming bacteria confirmed that despite most of the ions in PFS were dissolvable, the processed SFS was environmentally safe. The sorption efficiency of SFS towards Pb(II) and As(V) (up to ~ 99% and 94%, respectively, with an initial concentration of 100 mg/L) was found to be promising, suggesting the high potential for economical reuse of SFS.

Keywords: (Bio)weathering; Iron sediment; Iron sorbent; Sediment management.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't