Affiliation:
1. Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Control & Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution School of Metallurgy and Environment Central South University Changsha Hunan 410083 P. R. China
2. State Key Laboratory of Material Processing and Die & Mold Technology School of Materials Science and Engineering Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan Hubei 430074 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractRemoving heavy metal (loid) s (HMs) from contaminated soil in a nonselective, highly efficient, and energy‐free manner is a major global challenge. Herein, this work synthesizes and assembles a biomimetic materials system (BMS) consisting of an artificial plant, a hemispherical glass cover, and a reflective plate, capable of non‐selective and highly efficient remediation of soil contaminated by various HM ions under sunlight. Specifically, a water cycle is driven to establish between the soil, artificial plant, and atmosphere by solar energy in the BMS, which induced water‐soluble HM ions to enrich and precipitate at the top edge of the artificial plant. The formed HM precipitate is easily removed, contributing to the extremely strong recyclability of BMS. This system has significant advantages in terms of soil properties, contamination characteristics, energy consumption, processing time, and removal amount over other representative remediation methods, demonstrating its great potential for practical application in the remediation of various HM‐contaminated soils.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China