The fluoride content in groundwater varies depending on geological configuration. Fluoride problems tend to occur in places where these minerals are most abundant in rocks. The objective of the present work was to synthesize four biopolymers based on chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol (Ch-PVA) cross-linked with sodium tripolyphosphate pentabasic (TPP) and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) and determine their ability to remove fluoride from water. The characterization of the Ch-PVA beads was performed by way of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The percentage of humidity and the point of zero charge were determined. The Ch-PVA beads showed a surface area of 63.87 m² g⁻¹, a pore size of 7.6 nm, a point of zero charge of 7.4, and 98.6% humidity. The kinetic adsorption study was adjusted to the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption equilibrium data were adjusted to the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, showing a maximum fluoride adsorption capacity of 12.64 mg g⁻¹ at pH 7 and 30 °C, for the beads of Ch-PVA-NaOH-TPP. According to the thermodynamic parameters: −∆G°, +∆H° and −∆S°, fluoride adsorption is spontaneous, endothermic in nature and there is no random energy change in the solid/liquid interface during the adsorption process.

Synthetic dyes are increasingly relevant pollutants due to their widespread use and discharge into water bodies. This study examines how the solution pH affects the morphology of chitosan–cellulose cryogel (Ch-C-EGDE) and its impact on dye transport to adsorption sites. Adsorption tests with dyes Y5, R2, and B1 over a pH range of 2–12 revealed optimal performance at pH 2.5. High hydronium ion concentrations significantly improved adsorption capacities (945–1605 mg/g), with a hierarchy B1 > R2 > Y5 at 250 mg/L initial concentration. The dependence of the dye adsorption on the acidic pH of the solution suggests that there is a mechanism of adsorption by electrostatic forces due mainly to the protonation of the amino group (NH₃⁺). During the dye adsorption studies, a decrease in the diameter of the cryogel beads was observed, as well as a possible “zipper effect” in the pores of the Ch-C-EGDE cryogel beads, which depends on the pH at which the anionic molecules of the dyes attract the positively charged chitosan-based adsorbent walls, which physically closes the pores and results in a decrease in pore size as well as a geometric and/or load-bearing impediment. The experimental data fitted well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic models and the Sips isotherm model, indicating multilayer and heterogeneous adsorption behavior. In the Sips model, a value of n > 1 was obtained, which confirms favorable adsorption conditions and suggests strong dye-adsorbent material interactions, especially at higher dye concentrations.

In this study, crosslinked chitosan cryogels (QE) and chitosan’s cryogels modified with iron (QEFe) were synthesized. They were characterized by BET, PZC, FTIR, and XPS spectroscopies. Results show a specific surface area of 36.67 and 29.17 m²g⁻¹ and 7.0 and 6.1 of PZC for the cryogels QE and QEFe, respectively. FTIR results show the characteristic bands of amino and hydroxyl groups, while in the XPS analysis, interactions between iron and oxygen with fluorine were observed. The removal of fluoride at temperatures of 303, 313, and 323 K in cryogels was tested. The Ho model is the best fit for the experimental data, suggesting that there is a chemisorption process involved in the removal of fluoride. The Langmuir-Freundlich model is the best to represent the behavior of the cryogels, and it is used to sorbents with heterogeneous surfaces. A maximum fluoride adsorption capacity of 280 and 295 mg F⁻/g for QE and QEFe, respectively, at 303 K was obtained, showing that the removal of fluoride is favored by the iron incorporated in the polymer matrix of the cryogels. The thermodynamic parameters were obtained for both cryogels, where the values of ΔH° and ΔG° indicate that both systems are endothermic and nonspontaneous.