Effective Use of Inorganic Binders for Stabilization/Solidification of Contaminated Soil: An Overview

Heavy metal pollution of soils is one of the most significant environmental issues since it has the potential to seriously harm the ecosystem and human health. Stabilization/Solidification (S/S) technology is capable of use in engineering procedures due to its ease and cost-effectiveness. In the S/S procedure, an additive is mixed with the contaminated soil to physically or chemically fix the hazardous compounds in a stable state and restrict their migration in the soil. The remediation efficiency of the S/S technique has been achieved by the use of various inorganic binders like cement, lime, fly ash, GGBS, red mud, and other industrial by-products. The current study critically reviews the performance of various inorganic materials as binders to treat contaminated soil using the S/S technique. The efficiency of each binder is assessed in terms of commonly used mechanical and leaching parameters which include the unconfined compressive strength test and TCLP procedure. It was observed that the UCS value increased with the addition of binders, thus solidifying the contaminated soil. Also, the leachability of various heavy metals in soil was found to be within acceptable limits with inorganic binder amendment. This research aids in the understanding of the feasibility of various inorganic binders for heavy metal remediation in soils.