The potentiality of polyaniline and poly (m-methyl aniline) to remove fluoride from water via doping was investigated. The influence of pH, dosage of polyanilines, initial fluoride concentration and temperature on the amount of fluoride removed by the polyanilines were studied. The amount of fluoride removed at pH 7.0 by 50 mg/50 ml dose was found to be 0.78 mg/g. The data of fluoride removal fitted well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Thermodynamic parameters computed show that the adsorption process is endothermic in nature. FT-IR, X-ray and EDAX patterns of the polyanilines before and after exposure to fluoride ions suggest that the defluoridation occurs via doping of fluoride ions onto these polymers. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.