ROURKELA: Researchers at National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) have secured a patent for a low-cost innovative material made from jackfruit peel for removal of excess fluoride from contaminated groundwater.
The technology uses activated carbon made from jackfruit peel and modified with zirconium to improve its fluoride-capturing ability.
According the World Health Organization (WHO), excessive fluoride in drinking water negatively impacts human health causing dental and skeletal fluorosis.
Fluoride contamination is common in several parts of the country and availability of affordable and sustainable water treatment remains an important public health priority.
Conventional methods for fluoride removal from groundwater face certain limitations preventing wider adoption. The reverse osmosis method discards a large amount of water in the treatment process and removes beneficial minerals like calcium and magnesium from the treated water. Processes like ion exchange and activated alumina use harsh chemicals, hence non-eco-friendly.
The research team comprises Prof Susmita Mishra of the Chemical Engineering department and research graduate Pratima Minz.
Prof Mishra said, “The key idea behind this technology is to use an agricultural waste material as a resource for water purification. We prepared activated carbon from discarded jackfruit peel and modified it with zirconium to improve its ability to capture fluoride from water. The material showed promising results in fluoride removal in laboratory tests.”
The research team recorded removal efficiencies exceeding 90-97 per cent in 10-20 minutes under test conditions. About real-world applications of the technology, Prof Mishra said, “In the long term, the technology could contribute to decentralised water treatment solutions for communities in fluoride-affected regions, subject to further testing and validation.”
The research team plans to developing a physical prototype next and assess practical deployment, long-term performance and operational costs of the developed material.