Innovative reuse of mineral waste for treatment of a contaminated soil by fluorine: synthesis of hydroxyapatite (HAP) and chemical performance assessments.

This research aimed to introduce a novel method for the valorization of mineral waste, focusing on the development of hydroxyapatite (HAP) as an effective and economical adsorbent for immobilizing fluoride ions (F) in soil. Hydroxyapatites were produced through the reaction between potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KHPO) and calcium-abundant limestone soil (CLS). X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that the primary phases in HAP were brushite (CaHPO·2HO) and hydroxyapatite (Ca(PO)(OH)). The FTIR spectra exhibited characteristics akin to natural HAP, including the presence of orthophosphate groups (PO), hydroxyl groups (OH), and both A/B types of carbonates in the apatite structure. The morphology of the synthesized HAP, as observed through SEM-EDS, was consistent with that of phosphocalcic hydroxyapatite crystals. The EDS results indicated a Ca/P atomic ratio of 1.7 for HAP, aligning closely with the typical hydroxyapatite stoichiometry (Ca/P = 1.67). The application of HAP to reduce fluoride (F) levels in soil proved to be successful; introducing 1% of various HAP formulations reduced the fluoride concentration from 51.4 mg/kg in untreated soil to levels below the IWSI limit (10 mg/kg), achieving a reduction to 8.1 mg/kg for HAP. The sequential extraction of fluoride demonstrated that after soil treatment, fluoride was predominantly removed from the residual fraction (Fraction 4) and was effectively sequestered by the hydroxyapatites (Ca(PO)(OH)) through anionic exchange with hydroxide ions (OH), resulting in the formation of stable and insoluble fluorapatite (Ca(PO)F).