Jarosite is an essential solid industrial waste material which is generated during the hydrometallurgical processing of zinc in smelters. Besides zinc and iron, Jarosite also contains toxic heavy metals like Pb, Cd, Al, Cr, Cu etc. due to which it is environmentally hazardous. Due to the presence of heavy metals, the useful Zn, Fe components cannot be utilized safely. Therefore, it is necessary to remove Pb(II), a major toxic element, to make it useful. In this report, a green process for immobilization of Pb(II) using phosphate materials (physiochemical adsorption) is discussed. Jarosite was used as a precursor for synthesis of the ZnÀ Fe binary nano-composite.Mitigation of Pb(II) by this process was assessed by the batch experiments, which showed significant reduction in leaching of Pb(II). The mechanism of Pb(II) immobilization involve the dissolution of phosphate materials (KH 2 PO 4 , NH 4 H 2 PO 4 and CaH 2 PO 4 ) to a lower pH � 3 followed by precipitation of Pb(II) in the form of pyromorphite complex. The results indicated that the concentration of Pb(II) was reduced by 90-95 % which was pH dependent with a high uptake (325 ppm) of lead ion in the pH range of 5.5-6.0. This physicochemical process brings new perspectives for reuse of a polluting solid industrial waste.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.