Carbons prepared from coffee grounds by H3PO4 activation: characterization and adsorption of methylene blue and Nylosan Red N-2RBL.

Activated carbons were prepared by the pyrolysis of coffee grounds impregnated by phosphoric acid at 450 degrees C for different impregnation ratios: 30, 60, 120 and 180 wt.%. Materials were characterized for their surface chemistry by elemental analysis, "Boehm titrations", point of zero charge measurements, Infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA); as well as for their porous and morphological structure by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption at 77K. The impregnation ratio was found to govern the porous structure of the prepared activated carbons. Low impregnation ratios (<120 wt.%) led to essentially microporous and acidic activated carbons whereas high impregnation ratios (>120 wt.%) yielded to essentially mesoporous carbons with specific surface areas as high as 925 m(2)g(-1), pore volume as large as 0.7 cm(3)g(-1), and neutral surface. The activated carbons prepared from coffee grounds were compared to a commercial activated carbon (S(BET) approximately 1400 m(2)g(-1)) for their adsorption isotherms of methylene blue and "Nylosan Red N-2RBL", a cationic and anionic (azo) dye respectively. The mesoporous structure of the material produced at 180 wt.% H(3)PO(4) ratio was found to be appropriate for an efficient sorption of the latter azo dye.

Comparison of adsorption of Remazol Black B and Acidol Red on microporous activated carbon felt.

The adsorption of two anionic dyes, Remazol Black B (RB5) and Acidol Red 2BE-NW (AR42), onto a microporous activated carbon felt was investigated. The characterization of carbon surface chemistry by X-ray microanalysis, Boehm titrations, and pH-PZC measurements indicates that the surface oxygenated groups are mainly acidic. The rate of adsorption depends on the pH and the experimental data fit the intraparticle diffusion model. The pore size distribution obtained by DFT analysis shows that the mean pore size is close to 1nm, which indicates that a slow intraparticle diffusion process control the adsorption. The adsorption isotherms were measured for different pH values. The Khan and the Langmuir-Freundlich models lead to the best agreement with experimental data for RB5 and AR42, respectively. These isotherm simulations and the pH dependence of adsorption show that the adsorption capacity is mainly controlled by nondispersive electrostatic interactions for pH values below 4. The adsorption kinetics, the irreversibility of the process, and the influence of the pH indicate that the rate of adsorption in this microporous felt proceeds through two steps. The first one is fast and results from direct interaction of dye molecules with the external surface of the carbon material (which account for 10% of the whole surface area); in the second, slow step, the adsorption rate is controlled by the slow diffusion of dye molecules into the narrow micropores. The influence of temperature on the adsorption isotherms was studied and the thermodynamic parameters were obtained. They show that the process is spontaneous and exothermic.