Preparation of hydroxyapatite and its elimination of excess fluoride from aqueous solution

Abstract

Excess fluoride in aqueous solutions can significantly affect dental and bone health. This study used two methods to prepare hydroxyapatite to remove fluoride ions from water. The experiments showed that the adsorption capacity and removal rate of hydroxyapatite (Xq-HAP) prepared by the novel method were higher than for the hydroxyapatite (Yt-HAP) prepared by the conventional method. The maximum fluoride ion trapping capacity of Xq-HAP could reach 29.04 mg g⁻¹ under the conditions of pH = 5 and an F ion concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹. The materials were characterized by SEM, XRD, BET, XPS, and FTIR. An investigation was conducted to examine the impact of contact time, adsorbent dosage, fluoride concentration, solution pH, temperature, and several other parameters on the removal of fluoride. Adsorption equilibrium was reached in approximately 3 h at an initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹. It can be seen that the adsorbent has a faster ability to trap fluoride ions. The adsorption kinetics and Langmuir isotherm indicated that fluoride ion adsorption is a monolayer chemisorption process. Further characterization and kinetic studies indicated that the removal mechanism involves ion exchange, electrostatic interactions, and complexation. After five adsorption cycles, the adsorption capacity reaches 23 mg g⁻¹.