Electrokinetic Remediation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

13Enhanced Electrokinetic Techniques in Soil Remediation for Removal of Heavy Metals

Sadia Ilyas^1,2, Rajiv Ranjan Srivastava^3,4, Hyunjung Kim^1,5, and Humma Akram Cheema²

¹Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea

²Mineral and Material Chemistry Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

³Center for Advanced Chemistry, Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam

⁴Faculty of Natural Sciences, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam

⁵Department of Environment and Energy, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea

13.1 Introduction

Anthropogenic activities generate millions of tons of hazardous waste worldwide every year. In the waste volume, heavy metals and metalloids predominantly come from mining, mineral processing, smelting, industrial discharge, agricultural applications, and the landfill disposal of end‐of‐life devices as electronic waste. Improper handling of these waste heavy metals often exposes them in the environment due to leakage into soil and groundwater through slow leaching [1, 2]. The potential toxicity of heavy metals has an enormous impact on the quality of soil and groundwater and poses significant risks to human health and biota [3]. Notably, heavy metals and metalloids are non‐biodegradable substances, in contrast to many organic pollutants [4], and therefore, active remediation is often required for proper handling ...