A Study on Removal of Fluoride Ions using Kaith Plant Leaves (Feronia limonia) as a Low- Cost Natural Adsorbent

Abstract

Kaith plant leaves (Feronia limonia) were investigated as a low cost and effective adsorbent for the removal of fluoride ion from aqueous solution. The effects of initial fluoride concentration, initial pH and contact time and adsorbent dose on the adsorption of fluoride on Kaith plant leaves were investigated. The amount of fluoride adsorbed was found to vary with initial solution pH, Kaith plant leaves dose, fluoride concentration and phases contact time. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were evaluated using the experimental data and the experimental results showed that the Langmuir model fits better than the Freundlich model. The adsorption rate data were analyzed according to the pseudo-first order kinetic and pseudo-second order kinetic models. It was found that kinetic followed a pseudo-second order model.