Potential application of acid jarosite wastes as the main component of construction materials

The purpose of this work was threefold: (1) To test quite new method of materials preparation only from the mixture of hazardous or polluting industrial wastes: of high acid jarosite processing waste (JW) of Zn-industry, alkaline Al-surface cleaning waste (ASCW) as neutralizer of its acidity and dump ferrous slag (DFS) as a binder of neutralized JW. (2) To study the structural formation processes of new substances. (3) To bind the heavy metals contained in JW to come up with new environment-friendly construction materials. XRD and SEM were used to monitor the hardening process, which was controlled by the changes of uniaxial strength and of linear deformation. Using small additions of Portland cement or lime, the strength of jarosite-treated materials can be increased. All these materials can be used in general civil engineering applications, as bases or sub-bases of roads, airfields and dams, replacing natural crushed stones, gravel, sand, and so on, and in the production of bricks, tiles and other products. The materials' enhanced strength is attributed to the new formation of amorphous gel, since the presence of small quantity of crystal hydrate forms cannot explain the strength of the samples.