Enhanced fluoride removal from water using acid-modified red clay soil from the Loess Plateau of China

Abstract

The discharge of fluoride-containing wastewater poses a severe threat to global water resources, ecosystems, and human health. Urgently needed are economically feasible and environmentally sustainable solutions for worldwide fluoride contamination. This study explores utilizing unmodified and modified red clay soils from China's Loess Plateau as adsorbents for fluoride mitigation. Sulfuric acid-modified red clay soil showed higher fluoride removal than unmodified, NaOH-modified, and thermally modified soils. Fluoride adsorption decreased with rising pH from 2.0 to 10.0 for unmodified (67.67–3.91%) and acid-modified red clay soil (90.44–32.06%). The Langmuir model better described the data (R2 = 0.9821, 0.9901 for unmodified, acid-modified soil), improving maximum adsorption capacity by 252%. Pseudo-second-order kinetics (R2 = 0.9925, 0.9954 for unmodified, acid-modified soil) accurately described the kinetic data. Acid modification improved reaction rates, shortening the breakpoint from 6.694 to 2.318 min1/2. Over time, the process transitioned from intraparticle diffusion to external mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion. FTIR analysis showed that acid modification strengthened ligand exchange and provided ion exchange opportunities. This study advances fluoride adsorption through innovative clay soil utilization, offering economical, viable, and environmentally friendly solutions.