Selective and Efficient Removal of Fluoride from Water: In Situ Engineered Amyloid Fibril/ZrO2 Hybrid Membranes

We report a new strategy for efficient removal of F- from contaminated water streams, and it relies on carbon hybrid membranes made of amyloid fibril/ZrO2 nanoparticles (<10nm). These membranes exhibit superior selectivity for F- against various competitive ions, with a distribution coefficient (K-d) as high as 6820 mLg(-1), exceeding commercial ion-exchange resins (IRA-900) by 180 times and outdoing the performance of most commercial carbon-activated aluminum membranes. At both low and high (ca. 200 mgL(-1)) F- concentrations, the membrane efficiency exceeds 99.5% removal. For real untreated municipal tap water (ca. 2.8mgL(-1)) under continuous operating mode, data indicates that about 1750 kgwaterm(-2) membrane can be treated while maintaining drinking water quality, and the saturated membranes can be regenerated and reused several times without decrease in performance. This technology is promising for mitigating the problem of fluoride water contamination worldwide.