Fabrication of aluminium and iron impregnated pectin biopolymeric material for effective utilization of fluoride adsorption studies

Fluoride (Fˉ) has been renowned as one of the solemn problems in groundwater which causes severe health effects such dental and skeletal fluorosis in human being. Here we demonstrate, pectin biopolymer based binary metal oxide composite, which has been efficaciously employed as an adsorbent for Fˉ adsorption from water. A factorial design method was utilized to assess the quantitative adsorption of Fˉ ion by synthesized Pectin-Al-Fe (PAF) composite from aqueous solution. Three factors namely adsorbent dose, initial Fˉ concentration, and temperature were explored to study their effect on the adsorption of Fˉ. These experimental factors and their corresponding levels were as follow viz. adsorbent dosage (1 ≤ A ≤ 5.0 g/L), initial fluoride concentration (10 ≤ B ≤ 1000 mg/L), and temperature of solution (298 ≤ C ≤ 313 K). The experimental adsorption capacity values analyzed by adsorption isotherms and kinetic models were 243.9 and 286.90 mg/g, respectively, and the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity was found 333.0 mg/g. Thermodynamic investigations illustrated that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic, whereas, the nature of adsorption process was physisorption together with chemisorption. Altogether this study scrutinizes the novel synthesis of PAF biopolymer composite for the adsorption of Fˉ and it also added with factorial design method for the study of quantitative adsorption of Fˉ, which favors the batch adsorption experiment results. However, no literature has been reported yet which used the factorial design experiment and utilization of pectin biopolymer with bimetallic oxide entrapped adsorbent for Fˉ adsorption. [Display omitted] •The adsorbent has a higher surface area as well as the adsorption capacity, 122.78 m2/g and 333 mg/g, respectively.•The utilization of pectin with bimetallic oxide incorporation is a novel synthesis in biopolymer class of composites.•The PAF was characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction, and Field emission scanning microscopy.