Study on the migration and adsorption characteristics of barium ions in plastic concrete antifouling barriers

The urgent need to address barium residue contamination sites is evident. Vertical antifouling barriers effectively prevent the outward spread of pollutants. However, the composition of barrier materials impacts the migration and adsorption behavior of contaminants. To explore the convection-dispersion-adsorption patterns of heavy metal barium in plastic concrete vertical antifouling barriers (comprising GS solidifying material, bentonite, and aggregate) at different mixing ratios, soil column tests and Batch tests were conducted. These tests determined the transport parameters of barium ions under varying bentonite content and water-cement ratios, comparing the retarding factors of barium ions in plastic concrete between the two experiments. The findings suggest that as the water-cement ratio and bentonite content increase, the effective diffusion coefficient and tortuosity factor of chloride ions in the samples also increase. The retarding factors decreases with a higher water-cement ratio but increases with greater bentonite content. Additionally, the retarding factors obtained from the Batch test exceeds that from the soil column test. These research outcomes contribute to optimizing the design of antifouling barriers, enhancing their effectiveness in managing barium residue contamination sites.