Excessive fluoride in water causes serious environmental issues and adverse impacts on human health. In this study, an innovative lanthanum-modified carbon (LMC) adsorbent rooted in Sargassum sp. was developed for fluoride removal. Excellent removal efficiency was observed over a wide pH range of 3-9. Almost 90% of fluoride adsorption occurred within the first I h; the equilibrium was established within 4 h. The maximum adsorption capacity of LMC could reach 94.34 mg/g at neutral pH, much higher than many commercial adsorbents. Although the presence of such competitive anions as SiO32-, SO42-, HCO3-, PO43- and AsO3- had certain interference on fluoride uptake, it was noticed that there was no significant impact in the presence of humic acid. Furthermore, according to the instrumental analysis, the fluoride removal was majorly controlled by outer-sphere complex adsorption, while electrostatic attraction and ion exchange mechanisms could also be observed in the fluoride adsorption process. The findings from this study suggest that our adsorbent may have a great potential in industrial applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.