Preparation and Identification of Carbon Materials from Coffee Grounds

Abstract

Carbon materials have been reported to applying extensively on many biological researches. In this paper, the organic carbon component in coffee grounds was extracted to convert the activated carbon, and the adsorption activity of the activated carbon was studied. It was noticed that the two steps of oil extraction and sieving gave a great influence for adsorption activity. Oil extraction in the treatment process made the surface of the coffee grounds form a loose and porous structure and thus the adsorption areas were expanded, which was the important influencing factor. Screening could control the particle diameter of the final product. It was found that the large particles of the unscreened sample formed activated carbon of coffee grounds with adsorption properties. It showed the stronger adsorption activity of the activated carbon than the original coffee grounds, which showed only weak adsorption. The final product obtained after oil extraction and sieving was about 70% higher than the adsorption capacity of commercial activated carbon.