Aswathy, A.Sunil, B.M.2026-02-042024Journal of Environmental Management, 2024, 367, , pp. -3014797https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122013https://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/20940Leachate emanating from landfills contains ammonia which may cause serious health effects on living things. An effectively designed clay barrier should not allow the contaminant to infiltrate the soil and groundwater systems. The utilization of certain industrial by-products in engineered landfill barriers, not only reduces the need for conventional liner materials but also helps in sustainable waste management. This study investigated the hydraulic conductivity, unconfined compressive strength, compaction, and adsorption characteristics of lithomargic clay blended with an optimum percentage of bentonite (10%) and granulated blast furnace slag (15%) permeated with ammonia. The results revealed that increasing the content of granulated blast furnace slag decreased the maximum dry density while increasing the optimum moisture content. In comparison to lithomargic clay, the hydraulic conductivity of the amended soil liner permeated with ammonia decreased from a value of 3 × 10−8 m/s to 5 × 10−10 m/s. The unconfined compressive strength of the amended soil specimens showed an increasing trend with curing times (i.e., 0, 14, 28, and 56 days). The batch adsorption results revealed that Freundlich and Langmuir's isotherm fits the equilibrium adsorption data and the adsorption of ammonia on clay liner follows non-linear behaviour. Overall, the experimental results implied that lithomargic clay blended with 10% bentonite and 15% granulated blast furnace slag can be used as an impermeable soil reactive barrier in engineered landfills. © 2024 Elsevier LtdAdsorptionBentoniteBlast furnacesCompressive strengthGroundwaterGroundwater pollutionHydraulic conductivityLeachate treatmentMunicipal solid wasteSlagsAmended soilGranulated blast furnace slagGranulated blast-furnace slagsLandfill linerLeachatesLithomargic claysMunicipal solid wastes landfillPerformanceReactive barriersUnconfined compressive strengthAmmoniaaluminum oxidealuminum silicateammoniabentonitecalcium oxidechlorideferric oxidemagnesium oxidemanganese oxidesilicon dioxideclaycompressive strengthlandfill linermunicipal solid wasteperformance assessmentreactive barrierslagsoil amendmentwaste managementadsorptionArticlechemical compositionchemical reactioncomparative studyenergy dispersive X ray spectroscopyfurnacegranulated blast furnace slaghydraulic conductivityisothermlandfill leachateparticle sizeporosityscanning electron microscopysoil compactionsoil structuresurface propertyultraviolet spectrophotometryX ray diffractionchemistryproceduressoilsolid wastewaste disposalwaste disposal facilitywater pollutantClayRefuse DisposalSoilSolid WasteWaste Disposal FacilitiesWaste ManagementWater Pollutants, Chemical