Electrokinetic Remediation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

23Clays and Clay Polymer Composites for Electrokinetic Remediation of Soil

Jayasankar Janeni¹ and Nadeesh M. Adassooriya²

¹ Postgraduate Institute of Science, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya 20400, Sri Lanka

² Department of Food Science & Technology, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Makandura 60170, Sri Lanka

23.1 Introduction

Human activities and industrialization have resulted in a surge in pollution in soil and groundwater due to improper management and frequent spills of harmful chemicals. Toxic chemical structures such as total petroleum hydrocarbons, metals and related metal ions (Cd, Zn, Cr, Pb, Hg, As, Cs), pesticides, and radionuclides pose a potential danger to human health and the environment. In particular, soil includes clay and humic substances that can accumulate significant amounts of toxic metals, resulting in their gradual release into porewater and leading to pollution of surface and groundwater. Thus, there is a need for innovative, cost‐effective technologies for environmental remediation to improve public health and environmental safety [1]. In this context, electrokinetic remediation (EKR) can play a significant role in decontaminating soil by extracting toxic metals and other chemical substances like persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via in situ configurations (ex situ technology is also available) [2]. Hence, the in‐situ methods usually provide overall cost effectiveness and convenience due to the limited matrix displacement.

EKR is a fine approach ...