Studies on defluoridation of water by tamarind seed, an unconventional biosorbent

Tamarind seed, a household waste from the kitchen is used for the sorptive removal of fluoride from synthetic aqueous solution as well as from field water samples. Batch sorptive defluoridation was conducted under variable experimental conditions such as pH, agitation time, initial fluoride concentration, particle size and sorbent dose. Maximum defluoridation was achieved at pH 7.0. Defluoridation capacity decreases with increase in temperature and particle size. Further, defluoridation follows first order kinetics and Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Desorption was carried out with 0.1 N HCl and is 90 per cent. The surface and sorption characteristics were analysed using FTIR and SEM techniques. All these results indicate the involvement of energetic forces such as coulombic interaction in sorption. For domestic and industrial applications, defluoridation with 100% achievement and subsequent regeneration of adsorbent was performed with a household water filter and fixed bed column respectively.