Zirconium-based materials for fluoride removal from aqueous environments: A literature review and scientometric analysis
Arezo Savari, Ali Hamidi, Sima Farjadfard, Mohsen Omidvar, Bahman Ramavandi
Abstract
The unique characteristics of zirconium have made it susceptible to use in the pollutants purification. Although various zirconium-adsorbents have been used to remove fluoride, but no review article examines their perspective of the practical application. This article reviewed defluoridation papers using Zr-adsorbents. The modification of adsorbents with zirconium was found a useful technique to increase the fluoride adsorption capacity. Researchers have modified many materials like activated carbon, zeolite, and activated alumina by zirconium for efficient fluoride removal and among them Zr-doped polypyrrole/Zr iodate composite (183.5 mg/g) and CeO2-ZrO2 nanocages (175 mg/g) have a great capacity. Zirconium improves the chemistry and morphology of materials for fluoride adsorption. The Zr-materials were reusable and their mechanisms in fluoride removal were mostly electrostatic and ion exchange. Due to the excellent feature of zirconium, explorations can be continued to provide adsorbents with a higher ability to eliminate fluoride or similar pollutants.