Acoustic cavitation induced synthesis of zirconium impregnated activated carbon for effective fluoride scavenging from water by adsorption

Environmental concern associated with the side effects of high fluoride content in ground water and surface water has prompted the researchers to look for an efficient, convenient and easy method. Considering the potential of a good adsorbent, present study reports the synthesis of a composite by impregnating zirconium on powdered activated carbon (AC) using ultrasound as the tool for synthesis and applying it for fluoride adsorption from water. The nature of the composite was determined through characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive Xray (EDX), Xray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption analysis (BET) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. The pHpzc (point of zero charge) of the adsorbent was found to be 5.03; with the optimum pH obtained at 4 for adsorption of strong electronegative fluoride ions. The initial fluoride concentration was varied from 2.5 up to 20 mg.L−1 and the maximum adsorption capacity of 5 mg.g−1 was obtained. A maximum fluoride removal of 94.4% was obtained for an initial concentration of 2.5 mg.L−1 within an equilibrium time of 180 min. The adsorption isotherm followed the Langmuir isotherm model indicating a monolayer adsorption process and the adsorption kinetics followed pseudo second order model. The effects of various coexisting ions (HCO3−, NO3−, SO42−, Cl−) commonly present in the water were found to have negligible impact on the process performance. Conducting the adsorption-desorption studies for five consecutive cycles for an initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg.L−1, the removal efficiency reduced from 86.2 to 32.6%. The ultrasonic method provided an easy route to synthesize the composite in less time and significantly reduced energy consumption by more than 96% compared to the conventional method.