Adsorptive removal of fluoride from water using polyacrylamide modified diatomite

Abstract

The problem of fluoride removal from drinking water is an urgent task for many regions of the world. Therefore, this study was initiated to develop polyacrylamide modified diatomite powder for the effective removal of fluoride. Batch scale adsorptive removal was performed as a function of solution pH, contact time, initial fluoride concentration, and agitation speed at room temperature. Results of the study revealed that 93.2 mg/g maximum adsorption capacity was obtained using polyacrylamide modified diatomite at optimal conditions of solution pH 4.0, contact time 1h, adsorbent dose of 1 g/L, when evaluated from initial fluoride concentration variation data. It was found that the Langmuir isotherm model better fitted to the experimental data, indicating monolayer adsorption of fluoride upon the adsorbent. Polyacrylamide modified diatomite was found to be a promising material for the removal of fluoride from fluoride bearing water.