title: Electrochemical separation and reuse of EDTA after extraction of Cu contaminated soil.
abstract: Recycling chelant is a precondition for cost-effective EDTA-based soil washing remediation technologies. Soil contaminated with 290 mg kg(-1) Cu was extracted with 40 mmol EDTA per kg of soil. The spent washing solution (containing 73+/-1 mg L(-1) of Cu and 8.4+/-0.0 g L(-1) of EDTA) was treated in a single-compartment electrolytic cell using a sacrificial Al anode, at current density 96 mA cm(-2) and pH 6, 10 and pH left unregulated. Electrochemical treatment at pH 10 efficiently separated metal from chelant; 99% of Cu was removed from the solution, mostly by electro-deposition on the stainless steel cathode, while almost all the EDTA was preserved in the solution. The Cu in the EDTA complex was presumably replaced by Al electro-corroded from the anode after electro-reduction of the EDTA at the cathode. After trans-complexation, the EDTA in the treated washing solution retained from 82 to 69% of the Cu extraction potential. Reusing the washing solution in several soil extraction and EDTA recycling steps reduced the Cu soil concentration to 70 mg kg(-1), while a single use of EDTA solution removed less than half of the Cu from the soil.
authors.affiliation: Agronomy Department, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voglar
authors.forename: Domen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lestan
mesh_terms: D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D003300:Copper / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D002614:Chelating Agents; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D003300:Copper; D004492:Edetic Acid