Role of Surface Area and Surface Chemistry during an Investigation of Eucalyptus Wood Char for Fluoride Adsorption from Drinking Water
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 2
Abstract
This work studied the use of eucalyptus wood char as a filtration material for fluoride adsorption from drinking water to increase access to safe water. Upon increasing charring temperature, the specific surface area of the eucalyptus wood char increased from 0.9 to ; however, the fluoride removal capacity of the unamended eucalyptus wood char was negligible for all charring temperatures. Amendment of the char media with aluminum oxides increased the fluoride removal capacity to , demonstrating a significant improvement relative to the unamended wood char. While this adsorptive capacity is not yet as high as values reported for bone char, it is higher than the capacity of some other media currently in use and is a significant improvement over the unamended wood char. Thus, the aluminum oxide modified eucalyptus char may be a helpful alternative for fluoride removal in areas where bone char is not a viable option. This work also studied the possibility of altering the , initially 9.6 and 8.2 for wood and bone chars, respectively, to enhance media attraction for fluoride in water. The use of reducing agents actually lowered the to less than 8 for both types of char, but increased the fluoride adsorption capacity of the bone char by approximately 25%, while causing minimal change to the wood char capacity.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. National Science Foundation, which contributed partial funding to this work. This publication was developed under STAR Fellowship Assistance Agreement no. 91731301 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This work has not been formally reviewed by EPA, and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors; the EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication. The authors also wish to acknowledge partial funding from the OU WaTER Center and the University of Oklahoma in support of this work.
References
Abe, I., Iwasaki, S., Tokimoto, T., Kawasaki, N., Nakamura, T., and Tanada, S. (2004). “Adsorption of fluoride ions onto carbonaceous materials.” J Colloid Interface Sci., 275(1), 35–39.
Amini, M., et al. (2008). “Statistical modeling of global geogenic fluoride contamination in groundwaters.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 42(10), 3662–3668.
Ayoob, S., Gupta, A. K., and Bhat, V. T. (2008). “A conceptual overview on sustainable technologies for the defluoridation of drinking water.” Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol, 38(6), 401–470.
Babic, B. M. (1999). “Point of zero charge and intrinsic equilibrium constants of activated carbon cloth.” Carbon, 37(3), 477–481.
Benaddi, H., et al. (2000). “Surface functionality and porosity of actviated carbons obtained from chemical activation of wood.” Carbon, 38(5), 669–674.
Bhargava, D. S., and Killedar, S. D. J. (1991). “Batch studies of water defluoridation using fishbone charcoal.” Res. J. Water Pollut. Control Fed., 63(6), 848–858.
Brunson, L. R., and Sabatini, D. A. (2009). “An evaluation of fish bone char as an appropriate arsenic and fluoride removal technology for emerging regions.” Environ. Eng. Sci., 26(12), 1777–1784.
Chen, Y. N., Chai, L. Y., and Shu, Y. D. (2008). “Study of arsenic (V) adsorption on bone char from aqueous solution.” J. Hazard. Mater, 160(1), 168–172.
Chingombe, P., Saha, B., and Wakeman, R. J. (2005). “Surface modification and characterization of a coal-based activated carbon.” Carbon, 43(15), 3132–3143.
Coetzee, P. P., Coetzee, L. L., Puka, R., and Mubenga, S. (2004). “Characterisation of selected South African clays for defluoridation of natural waters.” Water SA, 29(3), 331–338.
Daifullah, A., Yakout, S., and Elreefy, S. (2007). “Adsorption of fluoride in aqueous solutions using KMnO4-modified steam activated carbon derived from pyrolysis f ricoe straw.” J. Hazard. Mater., 147(1–2), 633–643.
Dessie, G., and Erkossa, T. (2011). Planted forests and trees working paper: Eucalyptus in East Africa socio-economic and environmental issues, Forestry Dept., Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy.
Fan, X., Parker, D. J., and Smith, M. D. (2003). “Adsorption kinetics of fluoride on low cost materials.” Wat. Res., 4929–4937.
Fawell, J., Bailey, K., Chilton, J., and Dahi, E. (2006). Fluoride in drinking-water, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Fewtrell, L., Smith, S., Kay, D., and Bartram, J. (2006). “An attempt to estimate the global burden of disease due to fluoride in drinking water.” J. Water Health, 4(4), 533–542.
Gonzalez, P. G., and Pliego-Cuervo, Y. B. (2013). “Physicochemical and microtextural characterization of activated carbons produced from water steam activation of three bamboo species.” J. Anal. Appl. Pyrol., 99, 32–39.
Gwala, P., Andey, S., Mhaisalkar, V., Labhasetwar, P., Pimpalkar, S., and Kshirsagar, C. (2011). “Lab scale study on electrocoagulation defluoridation process optimization along with aluminium leaching in the process and comparison with full scale plant operation.” Water Sci. Technol., 63(12), 2788.
Han, I., Schlautman, M. A., and Batchelor, B. (2000). “Removal of hexavalent chromium from groundwater by granular activated carbon.” Water Environ. Res., 72(1), 29–39.
Hao, X., Quach, L., Korah, J., Spieker, W. A., and Regalbuto, J. R. (2004). “The control of platinum impregnation by PZC alteration of oxides and carbon.” J. Mol. Cata. A Chem., 219(1), 97–107.
James, G., Sabatini, D. A., Chiou, C. T., Rutherford, D., Scott, A. C., and Karapanagioti, H. K. (2005). “Evaluating phenanthrene sorption on various wood chars.” Water Res., 39(4), 549–558.
Kamble, S. P., et al. (2007). “Defluoridation of drinking water using chitin, chitosan and lanthanum-modified chitosan.” Chem. Eng., 129(1–3), 173–180.
Kaseva, M. E. (2006). “Optimization of regenerated bone char for fluoride removal in drinking water: A case study in Tanzania.” J. Water Health, 4(1), 139–147.
Larsen, M. J., Pearce, E. I. F., and Ravnholt, G. (1994). “The effectiveness of bone char in the defluoridation of water in relation to its crystallinity, carbon content and dissolution pattern.” Arch. Oral Biol., 39(9), 807–816.
Levya-Ramos, L. R., Ovalle-Turrubiartes, J., and Sanchez-Castillo, M. A. (1999). “Adsorption of fluoride from aqueous solution on aluminum-impregnated carbon.” Carbon, 37(4), 609–617.
Liu, S. X., Chen, X., Chen, X. Y., Liu, Z. F., and Wang, H. L. (2007). “Activated carbon with excellent chromium (VI) adsorption performance prepared by acid-base surface modification.” J. Hazard. Mater, 141(1), 315–319.
Malde, M. K., Scheidegger, R., Julshamn, K., and Bader, H. P. (2011). “Substance flow analysis: A case study of fluoride exposure through food and beverages in young children living in Ethiopia.” Environ. Health Perspect., 119(4), 579–584.
McGill, P. E. (1994). “Endemic fluorosis.” Baillieres Clin. Rheumataol., 9(1), 75–81.
Medellin-Castillo, N., et al. (2007). “Adsorption of fluoride from water solution on bone char.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 46(26), 9205–9212.
Mlilo, T. B., Brunson, L. R., and Sabatini, D. A. (2010). “Arsenic and fluoride removal using simple materials.” J. Environ. Eng., 391–398.
Mwaniki, D., and Nagelkerke, N. (1990). “Sorption kinetics of fluoride in drinking water by bone charcoal columns.” Front. Med. Biol. Eng., 2(4), 303–308.
Nightingale, E. R., Jr. (1959). “Phenomenological theory of ion solvation. Effective radii of hydrated ions.” J. Phys. Chem., 63(9), 1381–1387.
Nigussie, W., Zewge, F., and Chandravanshi, B. S. (2007). “Removal of excess fluoride from water using waste residue from alum manufacturing process.” J. Hazard. Mater, 147(3), 954–963.
Pettersen, R. C. (1984). “The chemical composition of wood.” The chemistry of solid wood, M. R. Roger, ed., American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
Smit, W, and Holten, L. M. (1980). “Zeta-potential and radiotracer adsorption measurements on EFG –α-Al2O3 single crystals in NaBr solutions.” J. Colloid Interface Sci., 78(1), 1–14.
Song, X., Liu, H., Cheng, L., and Qu, Y. (2010). “Surface modification of coconut-based activated carbon by liquid-phase oxidation and its effects on lead ion adsorption.” Desalination, 255(1–3), 78–83.
Sposito, G. (1996). The environmental chemistry of aluminum, 2nd Ed., Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL.
Tchomgui-Kamga, E., Alonzo, V., Nanseu-Njiki, C. P., Audebrand, N., Ngameni, E., and Darchen, A. (2010). “Preparation and characterization of charcoals that contain dispersed aluminum oxide as adsorbents for removal of fluoride from drinking water.” Carbon, 48(2), 333–343.
Tonguc, M. O., Ozat, Y., Sert, T., Sonmez, Y., and Kirzioglu, F. Y. (2011). “Tooth sensitivity in fluorotic teeth.” Eur. J. Dent., 5(3), 273–280.
Wilson, J. A., Pulford, I. D., and Thomas, S. (2003). “Sorption of Cu and Zn by bone charcoal.” Environ. Geochem. Health, 25(1), 51–56.
World Health Organization. (2011). Guidelines for drinking-water quality, 4th Ed., Geneva, Switzerland.
Zhou, Z., Shi, D., Qiu, Y., and Sheng, D. (2010). “Sorptive domains of pine chars as probed by benzene and nitrobenzene.” Environ. Pollut., 158(1), 201–206.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 141 • Issue 2 • February 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 1, 2013
Accepted: Jul 29, 2014
Published online: Sep 5, 2014
Published in print: Feb 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Feb 5, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.