Copper-bearing effluents are environmental relevant pollutants. Aiming for the development of new copper-removal adsorbents from food industry tailings, activated carbons were generated from macadamia nut shells and guava seeds. These materials were compared to the conventional activated carbon from coconut shells. Activation was performed with ZnCl2, in a mass ratio of 1 part of the chloride per 2 parts of carbonaceous material. Further carbonization at 720°C in a nitrogen atmosphere produced specific surface areas of 487,0 m²/g for macadamia shells and 396,7 m²/g, for guava seeds (compared to 668,3 m²/g for coconut carbon). Copper ion depletion in solution proved to be effective, resulting in an adsorption capacity after 24 h of 4,84 mg/g for the standard coconut carbon, 3,48 mg/g for carbonized macadamia nuts and 1,23 mg/g for carbonized guava seeds. These results show the possibility of using these materials in the treatment of industrial effluents, particularly for removing copper ions from solution, in addition to give destination to an industrial tailing, with low production cost.
Activated carbon; adsorption; copper; macadamia nut; guava seed; effluent treatment
