Highly efficient removal of fluoride from aqueous media through polymer composite membranes

Facile fabrication of graphene oxide and rare earth based metal organic frameworks decorated alginate and chitosan biopolymeric hybrid materials for defluoridation studies

Fluorosis disease can be prevented by the defluoridated water. Hence, the present work focused on the fabrication of hybrid materials using graphene oxide (GO) and Ce-based metal organic frameworks namely cerium fumarate (Ce-Fu) which gives GO/Ce-Fu for defluoridation of water. Further, the powdered GO/Ce-Fu was dispersed with alginate (Alg) and chitosan (CS) biopolymeric matrixes to give GO/Ce-Fu/Alg-CS biopolymeric hybrid beads for defluoridation investigations. The developed GO/Ce-Fu and GO/Ce-Fu/Alg-CS beads have defluoridation capacities (DCs) of 4.410 and 4.753 mg/g within 30 min. The fabricated GO/Ce-Fu and GO/Ce-Fu/Alg-CS beads were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, TGA, BET, SEM and EDAX studies. The performance of fluoride adsorption influencing parameters such as dosage, contact time, solution pH, interfering anions and temperature studies were optimized with batch scale. Thermodynamic, adsorption isotherms and kinetic studies were carried out using hybrid materials to find the nature and order of fluoride adsorption. The fluoride adsorption mechanism of GO/Ce-Fu and GO/Ce-Fu/Alg-CS beads was investigated. The performance of recyclability of the hybrid materials was examined. In addition, the field studies of hybrid materials were also explored to identify their field suitability nature.

Defluoridation by positive single-pulse current electrocoagulation from photovoltaic wastewater: Energy consumption assessment and mechanism analysis

The presence of fluoride ions (F-) in photovoltaic (PV) wastewater significantly affects the integrity of the ecological environment. In contrast to direct current electrocoagulation (DC-EC), positive single-pulse electrocoagulation (PSPC-EC) shows a significant reduction in both the formation of passivation films on electrodes and the consumption of electrical energy. Under the experimental conditions of an Al-Al-Al-Al electrode combination, an electrode spacing of 1.0 cm, a NaCl concentration of 0.05 mol L-1, an initial pH of 5.6, an initial F- concentration of 5 mg L-1, a current density of 5 A m-2, a pulse frequency of 500 Hz, and a 40 % duty cycle, the achieved equilibrium F- removal efficiencies were 84.0 % for DC-EC and 88.0 % for PSPC-EC, respectively, accompanied by power consumption of 0.0198 kWh·mg-1 and 0.0073 kWh·mg-1. The flocs produced in the PSPC-EC process were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and it is revealed that the F- removal mechanisms in the PSPC-EC process include co-precipitation, hydrogen bond complexation, and ion exchange. When the actual PV wastewater was finally subjected to treatment under the optimal PSPC-EC conditions, the F- concentration in the wastewater was reduced from 4.6 mg L-1 to 1.4 mg L-1. This paper provides both a theoretical framework and a technological basis for the application of PSPC-EC in the advanced treatment of PV wastewater.

Applications of biomass-based materials to remove fluoride from wastewater: A review

Fluoride is one of the essential trace elements for the human body, but excessive fluoride will cause serious environmental and health problems. This paper summarizes researches on the removal of fluoride from aqueous solutions using newly developed or improved biomass materials and biomass-like organic materials in recent years. These biomass materials are classified into chitosan, microorganisms, lignocellulose plant materials, animal attribute materials, biological carbonized materials and biomass-like organic materials, which are explained and analyzed. By comparing adsorption performance and mechanism of adsorbents for removing fluoride, it is found that carbonizing materials and modifying adsorbents with metal ions are more beneficial to improving adsorption efficiency and the adsorption mechanisms are various. The adsorption capacities are still considerable after regeneration. This paper not only reviews the properties of these materials for fluoride removal, but also focuses on the comparison of materials performance and fluoride removal mechanism. Herein, by discussing the improved adsorption performance and research technology development of biomass materials and biomass-like organic materials, various innovative ideas are provided for adsorbing and removing contaminants.

Functional activated carbon: from synthesis to groundwater fluoride removal

Developing green and functional adsorbents for the removal of inorganic pollutants from industrial wastewater is still a great challenge. Activated carbons (ACs) are promising eco-friendly materials for adsorption applications. This study reports on the preparation and functionalization of AC and its application for fluoride removal from water. Activated carbon was prepared from date stems, and the material was employed as a support for different modifications such as incorporation of Al(OH)₃, in situ dispersion of aluminum particles (Al⁰) and grafting of 3-(aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES). The resulting functional adsorbents were fully characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and zeta potential analysis. The results evidenced successful surface modifications. All adsorbents had affinity for the removal of fluoride ions (F⁻). The highest F⁻ removal rate was up to 20 mg g⁻¹ for AC-Al(OH)₃. Removal of fluoride ions obeyed Langmuir isotherms and a second-order kinetic model, and reached 99% uptake. The AC-Al(OH)₃ adsorbent was successfully used to treat a groundwater solution contaminated by fluoride ions. These results open an interesting avenue for developing eco-friendly functionalized AC for adsorption applications.

Conversion and surface modification of date stems to obtain a relevant adsorbent to remove fluoride contamination.

Effect of Polymer Dissolution Temperature and Conditioning Time on the Morphological and Physicochemical Characteristics of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) Membranes Prepared by Non-Solvent Induced Phase Separation

This work reports on the production of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) using N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) as solvent and water as non-solvent. The influence of the processing conditions in the morphology, surface characteristics, structure, thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated for polymer dissolution temperatures between 25 and 150 °C and conditioning time between 0 and 10 min. Finger-like pore morphology was obtained for all membranes and increasing the polymer dissolution temperature led to an increase in the average pore size (≈0.9 and 2.1 µm), porosity (≈50 to 90%) and water contact angle (up to 80°), in turn decreasing the β PVDF content (≈67 to 20%) with the degree of crystallinity remaining approximately constant (≈56%). The conditioning time did not significantly affect the polymer properties studied. Thus, the control of NIPS parameters proved to be suitable for tailoring PVDF membrane properties.

Removal of fluoride from industrial wastewater by using different adsorbents: A review

Many industries such as iron and steel metallurgy, copper and zinc smelting, the battery industry, and cement manufacturing industries discharge high concentrations of fluoride-containing wastewater into the environment. Subsequently, the discharge of high fluoride effluent serves as a threat to human life as well as the ecological ability to sustain life. This article analyses the advantages and drawbacks of some fluoride remediation technologies such as precipitation and flocculation, membrane technology, ion exchange technology, and adsorption technology. Among them, adsorption technology is considered the obvious choice and the best applicable technology. As such, several adsorbents with high fluoride adsorption capacity such as modified alumina, metal oxides, biomass, carbon-based materials, metal-organic frameworks, and other adsorption materials including their characteristics have been comprehensively summarized. Additionally, different adsorption conditions of the various adsorbents, such as pH, temperature, initial fluoride concentration, and contact time have been discussed in detail. The study found out that the composite synergy between different materials, morphological and structural control, and the strengthening of their functional groups can effectively improve the ability of the adsorbents for removing fluoride. This study has prospected the direction of various adsorbents for removing fluoride in wastewater, which would serve as guiding significance for future research in the field.

Fluoride removal efficiencies and mechanism of schwertmannite from KMnO4/MnO2-Fe(II) processes

Fluoride has an adverse effect on both the environment and industrial production. In particular, wastewater from smelting systems containing high concentrations of fluoride is a major cause of fluoride pollution. Based on the characteristics of such wastewater, a targeted and integrated method for removal fluoride using schwertmannite is proposed. The schwertmannite, prepared from the oxidation of Fe(II) by KMnO₄ (Ksw) and MnO₂(Msw), effectively removed fluoride within 30 min under certain conditions. Under most experimental conditions, the removal efficiency of F ion by Ksw was always 13 % higher than that by Msw, which is attributed to the different concentrations of OH^- and SO₄^2- for ion exchange. The calculations showed that the chemical formulas of Ksw and Msw are Fe₈O₈(OH)_5.42±0.04(SO₄)_1.29±0.02 and Fe₈O₈(OH)_5.28±0.04(SO₄)_1.36±0.02, respectively. In the Ksw system, 0.70 mol of OH^- and 0.30 mol of SO₄^2- were released per mole of F ions sorbed; those released for the Msw system were 0.69 mol and 0.31, respectively. The results showed that OH^- played a primary role in the ion exchange and the schwertmannite showed good practicability for actual industrial wastewater.

Facile synthesis of chitosan-modified ZnO/ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites for effective remediation of groundwater fluoride

This study explores the possibility of developing an eco-friendly adsorbent for effective remediation of groundwater fluoride, a well-known health hazard affecting more than 25 nations on the various continents. A facile and milder approach has been adopted to synthesize chitosan-modified ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ nanocomposites. The synthesized materials have been characterized by different spectroscopic, microscopic, and diffractometric techniques. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies have confirmed the formation of pure and highly crystalline ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ nanocomposites. The presence of surface-adsorbed chitosan in the modified ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ has been confirmed by FT-IR and thermogravimetric analysis. The results from microscopic and BET surface area analysis of ZnO/ZnFe₂O₄ nanocomposites indicated that chitosan plays a crucial role in modulating the surface morphology and surface properties of the nanocomposites. The nanocomposites exhibit excellent adsorption performance in the remediation of groundwater fluoride. Experimental conditions have been systematically designed to evaluate the optimum adsorption condition for fluoride, and the results have been analyzed with various non-linear models to describe the kinetics and isotherms of adsorption. The adsorption primarily follows Lagergren pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the Langmuir adsorption capacity is varied from 10.54 to 13.03 mg g^-1 over the temperature range 293-323 K. The thermodynamics study reveals that the adsorption process is endothermic and spontaneous. The mechanism of adsorption has been proposed based on the spectroscopic analysis of the fluoride-loaded adsorbent. The adsorption is non-specific in nature as co-existing anion can reduce its fluoride removal capacity. The effect of the co-existing anions on adsorption of fluoride follows the trend PO₄^3- > CO₃^2- > SO₄^2- > Cl^-. The adsorbent can be reused successfully for the 5th consecutive cycles of adsorption-desorption study. This study offers a very promising material for remediation of groundwater fluoride of affected areas.

Efficient Removal of Fluoride by Complexation Extraction: Mechanism and Thermodynamics

A complexation extraction system was designed to develop a new process for the efficient removal of fluoride from solutions, such as zinc or copper electrolytes or wastewater derived from flue gas. The effects of the boron fluoride molar ratio, organic phase composition, initial pH, temperature, and phase volume ratio on the extraction efficiency were investigated. The extraction efficiency was found to increase with the increase in the boron fluoride molar ratio, Alamine336 concentration, and phase volume ratio, whereas it decreased with the increase in temperature. For the simulated electrolyte or wastewater derived from flue gas, the majority of metallic ions were insensitive to the extraction, with the exception of Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺. Fluoride decreased from 5 g/L to 0.05 g/L after two-stage cross-flow extraction alone; with an extraction efficiency of 99%. Both the stripping and cycling properties were excellent when sodium hydroxide was employed as the stripping reagent. Furthermore, the loading capacity was 43.4 g/L, and increased by four times, when boric acid was added. This novel process implies a wide range of potential applications, such as the removal of unwanted fluoride ions from various high-fluoride polluted solutions and the simplification of brine phase diagram.

Bone char as a green sorbent for removing health threatening fluoride from drinking water

Millions of people around the world suffer from or prone to health problems caused by high concentration of fluoride in drinking water sources. One of the environmentally friendly and cost-effective ways for removing fluoride is the use of bone char. In this review, the structural properties and binding affinity of fluoride ions from different water sources was critically discussed. The effect of experimental conditions on enhancing the adsorption capacity of fluoride ions using bone char samples was addressed. It appears that surface properties, and conditions of the bone char production such as temperature and residence time play an important role in designing the optimal fluoride removal process. The optimum temperature for fluoride removal seems to be in the range of 500-700 °C and a residence time of 2 h. Applying various equilibrium adsorption isotherms for understanding fluoride adsorption mechanism was presented. The effect of bone char modification with different elements were discussed and recommendations for a further increase in the removal efficiency was proposed. Cost of bone char production and large-scale treatment systems were also discussed based on information available from scientific and commercial sources. Challenges with existing domestic defluoridation designs were highlighted and suggestions for new conceptual designs were provided.

Grape pomace as a biosorbent for fluoride removal from groundwater

This study presents a new type of biomass material for defluoridation from water; the material was prepared by loading tetravalent zirconium ions onto grape pomace produced from grape juicing and wine factories. Experiments showed that the optimum pH of defluoridation is around 3.0, and the fluorine removal efficiency could reach 96.13% for one-time contact. In batchwise adsorption tests, it was very interesting to find that even at pH values near 10, at which traditional adsorbents usually do not function for defluoridation, the removal efficiency of fluoride was still more than 90% for the Zr(iv)-loaded grape pomace (Zr(iv)-GP) biosorbent; proton release from Zr(iv)-GP was confirmed to cause an automatic decrease of the pH, which can save additional acid consumption in the case of one-time use and render the defluoridation more convenient and efficient. The maximum adsorption capacity of Zr(iv)-GP was 7.54 mg g-1; as a comparison, the maximum adsorption capacities of zirconium-loaded strongly acidic ion exchange resin D001 and zirconium-loaded weakly acidic ion exchange resin D113 were evaluated to be 4.85 mg g-1 and 1.14 mg g-1, respectively. The effects of coexisting anions, such as Cl-, NO3-, SO4 2-, CO3 2- and HPO4 2-, on the fluorine removal efficiency were also examined; it was found that CO3 2- and HPO4 2- anions had drastically adverse effects on defluoridation, while Cl-, NO3-, and SO4 2- appeared not to interfere. Real groundwater containing 1.8 mg L-1 fluoride sampled from Guanzhuang Village in Haixing County of Hebei Province was used for defluoridation through a continuous column adsorption process; it was found that pre-adjusting the groundwater pH affected the purification efficiency drastically, i.e., the time of the breakthrough point for the inlet groundwater pH at 3.0 was about 8 times longer than that at the original pH of 8.18. In addition, the Zr(iv)-GP adsorbent retained good adsorption capacity even after 3 cycles of adsorption-desorption-adsorption operations, indicating that the synthesized zirconium-loaded grape pomace is a very promising new fluorine-removing material for groundwater purification.