Thermally Activated Persulfate for Cyanide: Laboratory Research

A study by Yunmei Wei and colleagues, published in Chemosphere in 2022, investigated thermally activated persulfate for treating ferricyanide and ferrocyanide in prepared contaminated soils.

Proposed iron-cyanide degradation pathways from the laboratory study by Wei et al. (2022), Figure 7. Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133463

The researchers compared direct oxidation with a two-step method: alkaline extraction followed by oxidation of the extracted solution. The two-step approach achieved greater than 94% remediation efficiency for both iron-cyanide complexes under the tested laboratory conditions. Soil organic matter increased persulfate consumption.

The authors explicitly identified field feasibility as requiring further study. These findings are laboratory evidence, not a documented GEO field installation or a guaranteed site-cleanup result.

Reference: Wei et al., Effectiveness and mechanism of cyanide remediation from contaminated soils using thermally activated persulfate, Chemosphere 292, 133463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133463