Biomaterial functionalized cerium nanocomposite for removal of fluoride using central composite design optimization study

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) Vol. 258; p. 113773
• Main Authors: Nehra, Sapna, Raghav, Sapna, Kumar, Dinesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2020
• Subjects: Adsorption; Adsorption capacity; Biocompatible Materials; CCD modelling; Cerium; Drinking Water; Fluoride; Fluorides - isolation & purification; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kinetics; Luffa; Nanocomposites; Pseudo–second–order; Water Pollutants, Chemical - isolation & purification; Water Purification; Adsorption capacity; Pseudo–second–order; CCD modelling; Fluoride
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113773

Excess fluoride concentration in drinking water is a global issue, as this has an adverse effect on human health. Several adsorbents have been synthesized from natural raw material to remove fluoride from water. Reported adsorbents have some problems with the leaching of metal ions, fewer adsorption sites, and low adsorption capacity. Therefore, to address this, an effective biomaterial derived from the Luffa cylindrica (LC), containing many active sites, was integrated with a nano form of cerium oxide to form a robust, biocompatible, highly porous, and reusable LC–Ce adsorbent. This synthesized biosorbent offers better interaction between the active sites of LC–Ce and fluoride, resulting in higher adsorption capacity. Several factors, influence the adsorption process, were studied by a central composite design (CCD) model of statistical analysis. Langmuir’s and Freundlich’s models well describe the adsorption and kinetics governed by the pseudo–second–order model. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 212 and 52.63 mg/g for LC–Ce and LC, respectively determined by the Langmuir model. Detailed XPS and FTIR analyses revealed the underlying mechanism of fluoride adsorption via ion-exchange, electrostatic interaction, H–bonding, and ion-pair formation. All the results indicate that LC–Ce could serve as a suitable adsorbent for efficient fluoride removal (80–85%). [Display omitted] •LC–Ce adsorbent has a higher surface area and adsorption capacity of 294.58 m2/g and 212 mg/g, respectively.•FTIR and XPS results confirmed the adsorption mechanism.•The statistical CCD model verified the batch adsorption experimental data. Novelty: We believe that no other authors have used LC–Ce as an adsorbent for the removal of fluoride from water. It has excellent surface chemistry for adsorption.