Utilization of aluminum hydroxide waste generated in fluoride adsorption and coagulation processes for adsorptive removal of cadmium ion

Abstract

Although Al-based coagulation and adsorption processes have been proved highly efficient for fluoride (F) removal, the two processes both generate large amount of Al(OH)₃ solid waste containing F (Al(OH)₃-F). This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of utilizing Al(OH)₃-F generated in Al(OH)₃ adsorption (Al(OH)₃-F_ads) and coagulation (Al(OH)₃-F_coag) for the adsorption of cadmium ion (Cd(II)). The adsorption capacity of Al(OH)₃-F_ads and Al(OH)₃-F_coag for Cd(II) was similar as that of pristine aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)₃), being of 24.39 and 19.90 mg·g^-1, respectively. The adsorption of Cd(II) onto Al(OH)₃-F_ads and Al(OH)₃-F_coag was identified to be dominated by ion-exchange with sodium ion (Na⁺) or hydrogen ion (H⁺), surface microprecitation, and electrostatic attraction. The maximum concentration of the leached fluoride from Al(OH)₃-F_ads and Al(OH)₃-F_coag is below the Chinese Class-I Industrial Wastewater Discharge Standard for fluoride (<10 mg·L^-1). This study demonstrates that the Al(OH)₃ solid wastes generated in fluoride removal process could be potentially utilized as a adsorbent for Cd(II) removal.

Keywords

Al(OH)₃ / fluoride / cadmium / adsorption / reclamation / sequential extraction

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21177143 and 21177144) and the National Science Foundation for the Outstanding Youngster Fund (No. 51422813). Author Ruiping Liu gratefully acknowledges the support of the Beijing Nova Program (No. 2013054).

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11783-015-0809-7 and is accessible for authorized users.

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