Electrokinetic Amendment in Phytoremediation of Mixed Contaminated Soil. (1st November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chirakkara, Reshma A.; Reddy, Krishna R.; Cameselle, Claudio
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 181(2015)
• Page Start: 179
• Page End: 191
• Publication Date: 2015-11-01
• Subjects: phytoremediation -- electrokinetic remediation -- heavy metal -- PAH -- soil; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.01.025
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: This study examines the effects of electrokinetic amendments for phytoremediation of mixed contaminated soil where typical silty clay soil was spiked with organic contaminants (naphthalene and phenanthrene) and heavy metal (lead, cadmium and chromium). The contaminated soil was treated with compost and placed in electrokinetic cells, which were seeded with oat plant or sunflower. Thirty days after germination, 25 V alternating current was applied to selected cells using graphite electrodes for 3 h per day. The plants were harvested after a growth period of 61 days. One cell remained unplanted to evaluate the effect of the electric current on the soil, alone. The results confirm a significant reduction of heavy metals and organic contaminants in soil. However, there was no noticeable improvement of heavy metal phytoextraction or PAH degradation due to the application of electric field despite the increase in biomass production by the plants subjected to the electric current. The electric potential application time and frequency are suggested to be increased to have noticeable effects in heavy metal uptake and PAHs degradation.