Water remediation using biosorbent obtained from agricultural and fruit waste

Abstract

In rural community, groundwater is the main source of drinking water. Due to negative health impacts of excess fluoride in drinking water, there is urgent need to search the low-cost techniques to remove fluoride. Several materials have been used as adsorbent for removal of fluoride. Different parts of plant such as bark, stem, root, and leaves have cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin etc. that are generally discarded as agricultural waste. Similarly, after using pulp of fruits, seeds and peels of fruits are considered as waste and cause environmental pollution when dumped at open places or near water bodies. These waste materials can be efficiently used for removal of fluoride from water. Biosorption is an eco-friendly process in which ions bind to biomass and can be extracted from the solution. Biosorption by means of adsorbent powder obtained from agricultural waste in the form of Sugarcane bagasse powder (SBP), Rice husk ash (RHA), Waste fruit peel powder (WFPP) and Powder blend (PB) have been used in this study for removal of fluoride ions. These biological materials have been explored in single, binary and ternary forms and have been found most usable as PB form in acidic medium with 85% removal of fluoride. This process has been signified as an eco-friendly, cost-effective approach for the isolation of fluoride ions from aquatic environments.