Preparation, Characterization, and Regeneration of Aluminum (Hydr)Oxide–Amended Molecular Sieves for Fluoride Removal from Drinking Water
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 10
Abstract
Molecular sieves and zeolites showed increased fluoride adsorption capacities when amended with aluminum (hydr)oxide (AlOOH). When normalized by the AlOOH content, the adsorption capacities of most amended molecular sieves were higher than the maximum theoretical value expected for monolayer surface coverage, suggesting fluoride removal from processes beyond adsorption, such as precipitation. Although the mass-normalized adsorption capacities of most amended materials were less than that of an equivalent mass of pure AlOOH, several molecular sieves with pores of 1 to several nanometers showed mass-normalized adsorption capacities similar to pure AlOOH, possibly due to their larger pores, which may have facilitated fluoride adsorption after aluminum (hydr)oxide precipitation. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detected elevated fluorine in a representative AlOOH-amended molecular sieve after repeated fluoride adsorption, also consistent with fluoride uptake by processes beyond only monolayer coverage. Regeneration of the adsorbents with low-concentration sodium hydroxide solution led to partial recovery of the fluoride adsorption capacity, which decreased over the course of sequential adsorption batch experiments, possibly due to loss of aluminum.
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Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (CBET-1066425). We thank Dr. Preston Larson for assistance with SEM/EDS, Brittany Pritchett for assistance with XRD, and Jessica Johnston for help in the laboratory.
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 10 • October 2016
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© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 7, 2015
Accepted: Jan 4, 2016
Published online: Mar 30, 2016
Discussion open until: Aug 30, 2016
Published in print: Oct 1, 2016
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