Optimized preparation of dredged sediment-based functional ceramsite: thermodynamic profiling and formation mechanism

With dredged sediment emerging as a non-trivial environmental concern and numerous studies concentrating on its application in manufacturing industrial building materials, the development of high-value utilization technologies has become a promising direction. In this work, dredged sediment was used to prepare functional ceramsite for degrading a variety of antibiotics by sintering method. The mullite, anorthite, and fayalite formed have successfully cemented the iron-carbon powder, imparting a certain degree of strength to the functional ceramsite. Combined with thermodynamic profiling, SME-EDS, XRD and FTIR, the formation mechanism of functional ceramsite was divided into four stages. The leaching toxicity of heavy metals in functional ceramsite is much lower than the Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard, and it has good stability. This functional ceramsite has obvious performance and price advantages over commercial fillers. The high value utilization of dredged sediment is realized, which provides a certain reference for the preparation of functional ceramsite.