For aqueous/soil cadmium immobilization under acid attack, does the hydroxyapatite converted from Pseudochrobactrum sp. DL-1 induced vaterite necessarily show higher stability?

Abstract

Microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology was widely applied to immobilize heavy metals, but its long-term stability is tough to maintain, particularly under acid attack. This study successfully converted Pseudochrobactrum sp. DL-1 induced vaterite (a rare crystalline phase of CaCO₃) to hydroxyapatite (HAP) at 30 ℃. The predominant conversion mechanism was the dissolution of CdCO₃-containing vaterite and the simultaneous recrystallization of Ca_4.03Cd_0.97(PO4)₃(OH)-containing HAP. For aqueous Cd immobilization, stability test at pH 2.0-10.0 showed that the Cd²⁺ desorption rate of Cd-adsorbed vaterite (3.96-4.35 ‱) were 7.13-20.84 times greater than that of Cd-adsorbed HAP (0.19-0.61 ‱). For soil Cd immobilization under 60 days of acid-rain erosion, the highest immobilization rate (51.00 %) of exchangeable-Cd and the lowest dissolution rate (-0.18 %) of carbonate-Cd were achieved with 2 % vaterite, while the corresponding rates were 16.78 % and 1.31 % with 2 % HAP, respectively. Furthermore, vaterite outperformed HAP in terms of soil ecological thorough evaluation. In conclusion, for Cd immobilization by MICP under acid attack, DL-1 induced vaterite displayed direct application value due to its exceptional stability in soil and water, while the mineral conversion strategy we presented is useful for further enhancing the stability in water.