2012 Volume 10 Pages 493-498
Carbonaceous materials produced from coffee ground (virgin CG, CG600, CG800, and CG1000) were prepared. Specific surface areas, mean pore diameters, pore volumes, and SEM images of the CGs were investigated. The specific surface areas were in the order CG1000 (23.5 m2/g) < CG800 (31.5 m2/g) < CG600 (52.6 m2/g), and the mean pore diameters were in the order CG600 (77.0 Å) < CG800 (139.3 Å) < CG1000 (273.8 Å). The amounts of nitrate, nitrite, and fluoride ions adsorbed in a single solution system were greater than the amounts adsorbed in a ternary solution system; this indicated that the ions were competitively adsorbed onto the CGs in the complex solution system. Moreover, the adsorption mechanism was ion exchange with chloride ion onto the CGs in a 1:1 ratio. Adsorption isotherms were fitted to both the Freundlich equation and the Langmuir equation. The amounts adsorbed increased with increasing temperature. The adsorption affinities onto the CGs were in the order nitrate ion < nitrite ion < fluoride ion. The most suitable breakthrough curve conditions were Space velocity: 4.24 1/h and Linear velocity: 0.38 m/h. Thus, carbonaceous materials produced from coffee grounds were useful for the adsorption of nitrate, nitrite, and fluoride ions in a ternary solution system. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2012.493]
