There are significantly toxic Cu contaminants in seasonal frozen soil areas under industrial production and mineral exploitation. However, the hydration reactions of mainstream alkaline curing agents such as cement are disturbed by the solidification and thawing of moisture, and their solidification/stabilization is ineffective to heavy metals. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement to optimize the use of current curing agents to improve the solidification/stabilization (S/S) effect of Cu contaminants in seasonal frozen soil areas. In this study, the Epoxy resin (EP) with excellent waterproofing and frost resistance was incorporated into artificially prepared Cucontaminated soil to maintain a steady engineering application strength and inhibit the outward diffusion of toxic Cu contaminants under freeze-thaw cycles. The freeze-thaw resistance of EP-cured Cu-contaminated soil and the feasibility of EP remediation technology have been investigated, including mechanical properties, environmental effects and microstructure. The decline in mechanical strength and the increment in Cu leaching during freeze-thaw cycles are effectively suppressed by the remediation of EP. Even after 8 freeze-thaw cycles, there is merely a mechanical strength decline of 5 %, solely a secondary Cu leaching of 4.74 mg/L, and astonishingly a leachable index of 11.70 in the specimens with 12 % EP dosage. The expansion phenomenon of pores and clay fractures under freeze-thaw cycles were gradually alleviated after incorporation of EP. The above results demonstrate the Cu-contaminated seasonal frozen soil remedied by EP are high-strength, basically non-toxic, and environmentally friendly material which are suitable for in-situ stabilization/solidification in seasonal frozen soil areas.

Lead (Pb2+) and cadmium (Cd2+) are common heavy metal pollution, which is harmful to humans and animals. However, the diffusion rate of heavy metal ions moves faster in acidic environment, there are a large number of acidic heavy metal polluted soil in China, but the conventional binders are not effective to deal with them. Phosphate-based geopolymers (PGEOs) are acidic materials, and have excellence mechanical properties in acidic environment and solidification/stabilization (S/S) effect on Pb2+, but the applicability of PGEOs to Cd, Pb and Cd composite pollution is not clear. Therefore, this study discusses the applicability of PGEOs fabricated from fly ash (FA) and aluminum dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) as activator for S/S treatment of Cd, Pb-Cd composite pollution. Results show that the influence of Cd2+ and Pb2+ on the compressive strength of PGEOs was inconsistent, as the Cd2+ content raised, the compressive strength reduced slightly at 7 and 14 days, but it did not change basically at 28 days. However, the compressive strength rose firstly and then declined with an increase in Pb-Cd content when partial Pb2+ was used to replace Cd2+. The compressive strength of PGEOs with a Pb-Cd content of 0.6 % reached maximum (11.45 MPa), exceeding the compressive strength of PGEOs containing Cd2+. Moreover, the PGEOs presents an excellent stabilization effect on Pb2+, but poor effect on Cd2+. The Pb2+ leaching concentration meet the hazardous solid waste identification criteria (<5 mg/L), but the Cd2+ leaching is high and is more than 1 mg/L. Furthermore, the compressive strength of PGEOs had a good correlation with pH and EC. The S/S mechanism of PGEOs for Pb2+, Cd2+ includes physical adsorption, encapsulation, and chemical precipitation. However, Pb2+ involved in the geopolymerization process, while Cd2+ can not participate in the structure formation, so the PGEOs have a poor S/S effect. Therefore, it needs to be further improved when using PGEOs to stabilize acidic Cd2+ contaminated soil.

Currently, solid waste accumulates significantly, including red mud (RM) and fly ash (FA). Meanwhile, traditional cement-based curing agents pose challenges due to their high energy consumption and substantial pollution during the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil. In light of the need for resource utilization of solid waste and demands for energy conservation and emission reduction, this study investigates the stabilization/solidification of Cu2+-contaminated loess using a novel curing agent. This agent comprises low-energy, environmentally friendly high-belite sulfoaluminate cement (HBSAC) and quicklime (CaO) mixed with RM and FA. The study evaluates the samples across various metrics, including mechanical properties, permeability, pH, conductivity, leached ion concentration, and microstructure, to systematically investigate the curing effect and mechanism of the new curing agent on contaminated soil. It conducts an assessment related to the economics and carbon emissions of the solidified body. The results show that the optimal ratio for the curing agent consists of RM and FA, CaO, and HBSAC at 20%, 5%, and 7%, respectively, with a water-to-solid ratio of 0.38 and a mass ratio of RM to FA at 13:2. This new curing agent not only possesses superior properties but also offers excellent economic benefits and reduces carbon emissions. It holds significant potential for applications in the remediation of Cu2+-contaminated soils.