Physicochemical characteristics and mechanism of fluoride removal using powdered zeolite-zirconium in modes of pulsed& continuous sonication and stirring

Abstract

The current work reports the first application of the fluoride removal using zeolite-zirconium powder in three modes of pulsed sonication, continuous sonication, and stirring. The properties of powdered zeolite-Zr were specified using surface analysis techniques (surface area: 109.71 m2/g and pore volume: 0.08 cm3/g). For all the studied modes, the highest removal rate was observed at pH 7, contact time of 80 min, and zeolite-Zr dose of 3 g/L. Adsorption-desorption experiments were carried out in 6 steps and the fluoride removal was reached to 80% for the final step. The effect of co-existing anions was also studied and chloride and nitrate did not have much effect on efficiency. The powdered zeolite-Zr demonstrated the high ability to remove fluoride from actual wastewater. The data of the present study were well suited to the model of the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic. The pulsed sonication with a maximum adsorption capacity of 32.98 mg/g has been able to demonstrate better performance in comparison with the continuous sonication and stirring mode.