Author(s):
P.A.M. Mourão 
; I.P.P. Cansado ; P.J.M. Carrott ; M.M.L. Ribeiro Carrott
Date: 2010
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10174/2798
Origin: Repositório Científico da Universidade de Évora
Subject(s): Adsorção; Superfícies; Carbono; Microporoso
Description
Over the last decades the literature has shown the possibility of producing activated
carbons (AC) from a wide variety of raw materials, and to use them as one of the most environmentfriendly
solutions for waste disposal [1]. Simultaneously, it has been shown that the adsorption of
pollutants from different sources by activated carbons is one of the most efficient techniques for
remediating or solving this kind of problem [2]. In this context, phenolic compounds represent one
of the most important classes of pollutant present in the environment [3]. In this perspective, we
present a study involving the production of AC from cork (Quercus suber L.), PEEK
(polyetheretherketone) wastes or granulated recycled PET (polyethyleneterephthalate) and their
applicability for the adsorption of phenolic compounds from the liquid phase. All samples were
characterised in relation to their structural properties and chemical composition, by different
techniques, including nitrogen adsorption at 77 K, elemental analysis (C, H, N, O and S) and point
of zero charge (PZC). The activated carbons produced demonstrated high adsorption capacities both
in the gas and liquid phase as exemplified by N2 and phenolic compounds adsorption experiments.
Based on the structural and chemical properties, and on the kinetic and equilibrium studies of liquid
phase adsorption, it is possible to conclude that it is the porous volume of the ACs that
predominantly controls the process of phenolic compounds adsorption.
