Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash with different pretreatments with gold tailings and coal fly ash for environmentally friendly geopolymers

Municipal solid waste incineration fly ash (MSWIFA) is considered a hazardous solid waste, traditionally disposed by solidified landfill methods. However, solidified landfills present challenges with leaching heavy metals, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). To address this issue, this study examined two pretreatment methods for MSWIFA: sintering at 850℃ for 30 min and washing with three water baths (20 min each) at a 3:1 liquid-solid ratio. Then, the pretreated MSWIFA was employed in geopolymer synthesis, along with gold tailings (GT) and coal fly ash (CFA). The optimal raw material ratio was GT:CFA:MSWIFA = 5:4:1 after pretreatment, which resulted in maximum compressive strengths of 20.95 and 25.87 MPa for the sintered and washed samples, respectively. Washing removed 87.3 % of soluble chlorides from MSWIFA, enhancing the compressive strength of the geopolymer. High-temperature treatment effectively reduced the leaching concentrations of heavy metals and the toxic equivalent quantity (TEQ) of PCDD/Fs. The leaching concentrations of heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) and the TEQ of PCDD/Fs were all below the limits established by Chinese standards GB 5085.3-2007 and HJ 1134-2020. X-ray Diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses revealed that the primary hydration products of the geopolymer are C-(A)-S-H gels. Washing treatment facilitated the formation of ettringite and Ca(OH)₂, which enhanced the pore structure and optimized the performance of the geopolymer. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed the good thermal stability of the geopolymer, indicating that the high-temperature and washing pretreatments minimally impacted its thermal stability.