Activated carbon produced from waste coffee grounds for an effective removal of bisphenol-A in aqueous medium.

Bisphenol-A is widely used chemical in industry and unfortunately often detected in natural waters. Considered as an emerging pollutant, bisphenol-A represents an environmental problem due to its endocrine-disrupting behavior. The production of activated carbon from alternative precursors has shown to be attractive in the removal of emerging pollutants from the water. Activated carbon was produced from waste coffee by physical and chemical activation and applied in the removal of bisphenol-A. The samples were characterized by elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and analysis of textural properties. Bisphenol-A adsorption experiments showed that the chemically activated carbon was more efficient due to its high specific surface area (1039 m2/g) compared to the physically activated carbon (4.0 m2/g). The bisphenol-A adsorption data followed the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm, which indicated a maximum adsorption capacity of 123.22 mg/g for chemically activated carbon. The results demonstrated a potential use of the coffee grounds as a sustainable raw material for the production of chemically activated carbon that could be used in water treatment.