An excellent fluoride sorption behavior of ceramic adsorbent

A new material, ceramic adsorbent, has been developed and undertaken to evaluate the feasibility for fluoride removal from aqueous environment. Batch experiments were performed to study the influence of various experimental parameters such as contact time (0-48 h). initial fluoride concentration (20-100 mg/L), pH (2-12) and the presence of competing anions on the adsorption of fluoride on ceramic adsorbent. The experimental data revealed that both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models fitted well with the fluoride sorption process. The maximum adsorption capacity of ceramic adsorbent for fluoride removal was 2.16 mg/g. The optimum fluoride removal was observed between pH ranges of 4.0-11.0. The sorption process was well explained with pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The fluoride adsorption was decreased in the presence of phosphate followed by carbonate and sulfate. Results from this study demonstrated potential utility of ceramic adsorbent that could be developed into a viable technology for fluoride removal from aqueous environment. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.