Acid mine drainage(AMD)leachate is a global pollutant issue that impacts groundwater environment quality.This study investigated the feasibility of a composite biopolymer-amended bentonite as a geosynthetic clay liner...Acid mine drainage(AMD)leachate is a global pollutant issue that impacts groundwater environment quality.This study investigated the feasibility of a composite biopolymer-amended bentonite as a geosynthetic clay liner core material to contain AMD leachate.The real AMD leachate with a pH of 3.1,sourced from an acidic pyrite tailings site,was employed as a specific test leachate used in this study.The composite biopolymer was composed of welan gum(WG)and xanthan gum(XG)at different dry weight-based ratios.Modified fluid loss(MFL)tests were conducted to evaluate hydraulic conductivity(k)of bentonites to optimize WG:XG ratio.Rheological properties of biopolymer solutions were measured,serving as indicative parameters of biopolymer elution.The results indicated biopolymer-amended bentonites with the WG:XG ratio of 8:2 possessed lowest k(1.5×10^(−11)m/s to 7.2×10^(−11)m/s),lower than unamended bentonite(1.2×10^(−10)m/s to 8.6×10^(−10)m/s)in the AMD leachate condition.In addition,biopolymer solutions with WG:XG ratio of 8:2 exhibited highest viscosity.Thermogravimetric analysis,ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were conducted on the composite biopolymer,revealing that WG and XG interacted via physical cross-linking.Additionally,scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images indicated that a physical cross-linking and dense network structure conformation was developed in the composite biopolymer hydrogel at the WG:XG ratio of 8:2.The results demonstrate that the composite biopolymer is a promising low-carbon amendment material for enhancing containment performance of bentonite used in geosynthetic clay liners to contain AMD leachate.展开更多
基金funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.42477178)the National Key Research and Development Program of China(Grant No.2023YFC3709600)the Primary Research and Development Plan of Anhui Province(Grant No.2023t07020018).
文摘Acid mine drainage(AMD)leachate is a global pollutant issue that impacts groundwater environment quality.This study investigated the feasibility of a composite biopolymer-amended bentonite as a geosynthetic clay liner core material to contain AMD leachate.The real AMD leachate with a pH of 3.1,sourced from an acidic pyrite tailings site,was employed as a specific test leachate used in this study.The composite biopolymer was composed of welan gum(WG)and xanthan gum(XG)at different dry weight-based ratios.Modified fluid loss(MFL)tests were conducted to evaluate hydraulic conductivity(k)of bentonites to optimize WG:XG ratio.Rheological properties of biopolymer solutions were measured,serving as indicative parameters of biopolymer elution.The results indicated biopolymer-amended bentonites with the WG:XG ratio of 8:2 possessed lowest k(1.5×10^(−11)m/s to 7.2×10^(−11)m/s),lower than unamended bentonite(1.2×10^(−10)m/s to 8.6×10^(−10)m/s)in the AMD leachate condition.In addition,biopolymer solutions with WG:XG ratio of 8:2 exhibited highest viscosity.Thermogravimetric analysis,ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were conducted on the composite biopolymer,revealing that WG and XG interacted via physical cross-linking.Additionally,scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images indicated that a physical cross-linking and dense network structure conformation was developed in the composite biopolymer hydrogel at the WG:XG ratio of 8:2.The results demonstrate that the composite biopolymer is a promising low-carbon amendment material for enhancing containment performance of bentonite used in geosynthetic clay liners to contain AMD leachate.
