Recycling marble wastes for water treatment

Marble wastes are classified as special waste according to Italian regulation, (D. L. 3 April 2006 no. 152, art. 184). Thus, their disposal represents a cost for marble industries. Instead, CaCO3 scraps from marble quarries might represent a valuable sorbent for removing toxic elements from polluted waters that might be reused. In the framework of a research project aiming to remove toxic elements from polluted waters, marble scraps deriving from the quarrying, cutting and processing of marble blocks are used as “sorbents” for removing transition metal ions.

XPS surface analysis of Sardinian limestone powders and crystals. >>>

Calcium carbonate as sorbent for lead removal from waste waters. >>>

Manganese removal by marble waste – mechanism by XPS >>>

Publication:

E. Tuveri, D. Biggio, S. Liscia, M. Fantauzzi, B. Elsener, G. Ennas, G. E. Porcedda, N. Careddu, A. Rossi, Sardinian Limestone and Carrara Marble by XPS, Surface Science Spectra 32 (2025) 014010, doi:10.1116/6.0004546
E. Fiorito, M. Fantauzzi, L. Brundu, D. Atzei, B. Elsener, A. Rossi, Calcium carbonate as sorbent for lead removal from wastewaters, Chemosphere 296 (2022) 133897, doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133897
E. Fiorito, M. Fantauzzi, L. Brundu, D. Atzei, B. Elsener, A. Rossi, Spectroscopic evidence for clarifying the mechanism of toxic element removal by marble waste, Vacuum 196 (2022) 110721 doi: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2021.110721
E. Fiorito, PhD thesis University of Cagliari “Relevant surface reactions involving carbonates for heavy metals removal” (2022)

Oral presentations:

E. Tuveri, D. Biggio, B. Elsener, M. Fantauzzi,, A. Rossi, An analytical approach for clarifying the cadmium removal mechanism by Sardinian limestone and Carrara marble, Incontro di Spettroscopia Analitica ISA 2025, Catania, 19-20 Giugno 2025, Book of Abstracts Oral presentation O9 p. 23
E. Tuveri, M. Fantauzzi, D. Biggio, M. Cau, B. Elsener, A. Rossi, An analytical study on the effect of different grain size of Sardinian limestone powders on the mechanism of cadmium removal from model solutions, Società Chimica Italiana, XXXI Congresso di Chimica Analitica, 7 – 11 settembre 2025, Pisa. Book of Abstracts published online O-SPA-10 page 252