Comparison of removal characteristics between coprecipitation and adsorption method of aluminum hydroxide for wastewater containing F (-I) was attempted by sorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and zeta potential analysis.
When F (-I) was coprecipitated with aluminum hydroxide, the sorption density was higher at pH 7 than at pH 5. The sorption density at both pH values followed a BET-type isotherm. High sorption density was obtained when the initial F/Al molar ratio was high, and some of the aluminum hydroxide dissolved. The sorption density in adsorption treatment was slightly lower than that in coprecipitation treatment. These results suggest that the mechanism of F— coprecipitation was not simply surface complexation of F—.
At pH 7, the XRD patterns for F (-I) coprecipitates and aluminum hydroxide were identical. The slope between zeta potential and sorption density changed when the initial molar ratio was F/Al=3 in both coprecipitation and adsorption experiments. This F/Al=3 transition point corresponded to the point where the sorption density increased abruptly in the sorption isotherm. These results reveal that F (-I) was primarily adsorbed as a surface complex to aluminum hydroxide when the initial molar ratio was F/Al‹3. In contrast, when the initial molar ratio was F/Al›3, amorphous compounds of F— and Al (III) formed or F-Al complexes such as AlF2-, AlF2+, AlF30 and AlF4- were adsorbed.
