Activated carbon prepared from coffee pulp: potential adsorbent of organic contaminants in aqueous solution

The processing of coffee beans generates large amounts of solid and liquid residues. The solid residues (pulp, husk and parchment) represent a serious environmental problem and do not have an adequate disposal mechanism. In this work, activated carbons (ACs) for adsorption of organic compounds were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water science and technology 2013-01, Vol.68 (5), p.1085-1090
Main Authors: GONCALVES, Maraisa, GUERREIRO, Mário Cesar, RAMOS, Paulize Honorato, DE OLIVEIRA, Luiz Carlos Alves, SAPAG, Karim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Adsorbents
Adsorption
Applied sciences
Charcoal - chemistry
Coffee
Coffee - chemistry
Contaminants
Exact sciences and technology
Global environmental pollution
Methylene blue
Methylene Blue - chemistry
Organic compounds
Organic contaminants
Parchment
Phenols
Phenols - chemistry
Pollution
Residues
Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry
Water Purification - methods
Water treatment and pollution
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Summary:The processing of coffee beans generates large amounts of solid and liquid residues. The solid residues (pulp, husk and parchment) represent a serious environmental problem and do not have an adequate disposal mechanism. In this work, activated carbons (ACs) for adsorption of organic compounds were prepared from coffee pulp by controlled temperature at different pulp/Na2HPO4 ratios (4:1, 2:1, 5:4 and 1:1). The N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms showed ACs with high quantities of mesopores and micropores and specific surface areas of 140, 150, 450 and 440 m(2)g(-1) for AC 4:1, AC 2:1, AC 5:4 and AC 1:1, respectively. The prepared material AC 5:4 showed a higher removal capacity of the organic contaminants methylene blue (MB), direct red (DR) and phenol than did a Merck AC. The maximum capacities for this AC are approximately 150, 120 and 120 mg g(-1) for MB, DR and phenol, respectively. Thus, a good adsorbent was obtained from coffee pulp, an abundant Brazilian residue.
ISSN:0273-1223
1996-9732
DOI:10.2166/wst.2013.349