Influence of the slags treatment on the heavy metals binding

The removal of Cu(II) and Pb(II) was studied on two types of slags (blast furnace and steelmaking slag) and their modifications prepared by leaching with demineralized water (with contact time 24 and 48 h) and 0.001 mol L−1 HCl solution. The slags and their modifications were characterized by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and the specific surface area was measured. Environmental scanning electron microscope was used to study the microscopic changes of the slags. The highest removal amounts of Cu(II) were found on the blast furnace slag leached for 48 h. This fact can be explained by the higher specific surface area of the leached blast furnace slag; the removal of Cu(II) is supposed to take place by co-precipitation of its hydroxides or hydroxo-complexes on the slag surface. On the contrary, the modified steelmaking slags exhibit no improvement of the removal properties. The used treatment of the slags decreased the sorption capacities for Pb(II). The original steelmaking slag showed to be the best adsorbent for both metal cations.