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 m2g−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.
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Research Article|
September 01 2013
Activated carbon prepared from coffee pulp: potential adsorbent of organic contaminants in aqueous solution
Maraisa Gonçalves;
1Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Caixa Postal 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras-MG, Brazil
E-mail: [email protected]
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Mário César Guerreiro;
Mário César Guerreiro
1Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Caixa Postal 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras-MG, Brazil
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Paulize Honorato Ramos;
Paulize Honorato Ramos
1Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Caixa Postal 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras-MG, Brazil
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Luiz Carlos Alves de Oliveira;
Luiz Carlos Alves de Oliveira
2Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
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Karim Sapag
Karim Sapag
3Laboratorio de Sólidos Porosos, Depto de Física, Instituto de Física Aplicada-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, CP: 5700, San Luis, Argentina
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Water Sci Technol (2013) 68 (5): 1085–1090.
Article history
Received:
December 31 2012
Accepted:
April 22 2013
Citation
Maraisa Gonçalves, Mário César Guerreiro, Paulize Honorato Ramos, Luiz Carlos Alves de Oliveira, Karim Sapag; Activated carbon prepared from coffee pulp: potential adsorbent of organic contaminants in aqueous solution. Water Sci Technol 1 September 2013; 68 (5): 1085–1090. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2013.349
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