Journals of

Background and Aim: Fluoride is one of the essential elements of water that is introduced into water sources through several natural and human activities. Maximum contaminant level for fluoride in drinking water is set at 1.5 mg/L by WHO. In the present research, defluorination of aqueous solutions using graphene oxide nanoparticles is discussed.

Materials and Methods: In the present study, effects of pH, contact time, fluoride initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature as well as presence of sulfate anions in the performance of graphene oxide nanoparticles in removing of fluoride from aqueous solutions were investigated .Besides, investigation of thermodynamic, synthetic, and Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm were employed for the process.

Results: Maximum adsorption capacity occurred in the first 15 minutes .for the adsorbent with pH=3 and initial fluoride concentration of 10 mg/L. The results also showed that adsorption of fluoride by graphene oxide was well in accord with Langmuir isotherm. . .Furthermore, increasing of temperature led to reducing the adsorption capacity that was indicative of exothermic adsorption reaction. Moreover, it was found that the process followed the pseudo- second order kinetic.

Conclusion: Graphene oxide nanoparticles have higher removal capacity for fluoride in acidic conditions, ambient temperature and higher fluoride concentration.