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[Display omitted] • We synthesized amorphous aluminosilicate gel in the presence of heavy metal ions. • The effect of heavy metal ions on structure of aluminosilicate gel has been investigated. • We used the vibrational spectra to describe the structure of C-(A)-S-H phase. • We have attempted to evaluate the mechanism of immobilization of individual ions. Calcium aluminosilicate hydrates (C-(A)-S-H) with two different C/S molar ratios of 1.0 and 1.7 were synthesized by precipitation with the use of the alkali-activation method. The samples were synthesized with solutions of heavy metals nitrates such as nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). Metal cations were added in the amount of Ca:Me equal to 9:1, while Al/Si was 0.05. The influence of the addition of heavy metal cations on the structure of the C-(A-)S-H phase was investigated. For this purpose, XRD was used to examine the phase composition of the samples, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy were used to determine the effect of heavy metal cations on the structure of the obtained C-(A)-S-H phase and their degree of polymerization. Using SEM and TEM, changes in the morphology of the obtained materials were determined. Possible mechanisms of immobilization of heavy metal cations have been determined. It was found that some heavy metals (Ni, Zn, and Cr) could be immobilized by precipitation of insoluble compounds. On the other hand, they could remove Ca2+ ions from the structure of aluminosilicate and take their place, as evidenced by the crystallization of Ca(OH) 2 in samples with the addition of Cd, but also Ni and Zn in small amounts. A third possibility is the incorporation of heavy metal cations at the silicon and/or aluminum tetrahedral sites, as is the case with Zn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal fly ash as a secondary aluminosiliceous raw material that is commonly used in the so-called geopolymerization process has been activated with different alkali hydroxides solutions: LiOH, NaOH and KOH. Changes in the aluminosilicate structure of the material during alkali-activation have been analyzed in detail on the basis of ATR/FT-IR spectra. These changes mainly affect both the integral intensity and FWHM of bands in the range of 1200–950 cm −1 , however dehydration and carbonation process can be also analyzed based on obtaining results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]