Synthesis of rare earth metal oxide nanoparticle for simultaneous removal of fluoride and As(III) from aqueous solution

Abstract This study aims to investigate the sorption behavior of As(III) in presence of fluoride ion in an aqueous solution. Conventionally the As(III) is removed by converting it to As(V) with certain oxidants followed by sorption or precipitation. Limited information is available for As(III) sorption in presence of fluoride ions. The present study deals with single-step sorption of As(III) in the absence and presence of fluoride ion with rare earth metal oxide as adsorbent. The nanoparticles of CeO2 were synthesized by a low-temperature chemical precipitation method. The CeO2 as adsorbent is tested for sorption of As(III) and fluoride in a single system. The solution pH has a significant role in the sorption of fluoride ion however, negligible effect on As(III) sorption in the pH range of 4–8. The adsorbent showed the significant uptake capacity for arsenic and fluoride even in binary ion systems as 81.9 F mg/g and 3.3 As(III) mg/g respectively. The spent adsorbent is efficiently reused for ion sorption after regeneration and activation.