Utilization of waste materials in heavy metals and radionuclides imobilization by sorption

Abstract

UTILIZATION of WASTE MATERIALS in HEAVY METALS and RADIONUCLIDES IMOBILIZATION by SORPTION the researching trend of sorption characteristics of various natural materials, i.e. easily accessible raw materials, by-products or waste from various types of industry in recent years has become more pronounced. Waste materials utilization reduces the exploitation of natural non-renewable resources and/or exploitation of various forms of energy for synthesis or modification of natural raw materials and artificial materials. Also, the utilization of waste materials as sorbents is extremely acceptable from the aspect of environmental protection since it affects the amount reduction of such waste types, costs of their disposal and reduction of the hazards risks that some of these wastes can potentially cause in the environment. This paper presents an overview of the contemporary research of waste materials in heavy metals and radionuclides immobilization. Studies have shown that the usage of waste materials in the sorption process, i.e. conditioning of liquid radioactive waste and wastewater treatment can be very efficient and economically viable alternatives for standardly used methods, i.e. sorbents. Recent research on application of different waste materials and undemanding techniques for their modification due to sorption process improving include a wide range of waste materials, such as the various types of sludge, slag, fly ash, biomass, food waste, construction and demolition waste, etc.

Keywords

• waste materials
• heavy metals
• radionuclides
• sorption