Roles of red mud in remediation of contaminated soil in mining areas: Mechanisms, advances and perspectives

Abstract

Red mud (RM) is a kind of strong alkaline solid waste produced from the aluminum industry, which contributes significantly to environmental pollution and can cause severe health issues.Currently, RM is widely recognized as a potential material for soil remediation because of its rich metal oxide content, such as Fe/Al oxides. However, there is no comprehensive description on the roles of RM in passivation remediation of contaminated soil in mining areas. This review summarizes the mechanisms of passivation of heavy metals (HMs) in contaminated soil by RM, including precipitation, adsorption and ion exchange. Besides the effects of adding RM on soil physicochemical properties, heavy metal forms and ecological environment are further elaborated. Moreover, using the co-hydrothermal carbonization of RM and biomass for enhancing the efficiency of contaminated soil remediation is proposed as the main prospective research. This paper provides technical references for the resource utilization of RM and the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated soil.

Keywords: Heavy metal forms; Microbial response; Plant response; Red mud; Soil remediation.