Abstract

Background: A comparative study of the influence of preparation variables in the activation of pine sawdust and peach stones with phosphoric acid is presented. Adsorptive properties of these materials were tested for the clarification of apple juice and the decolorization of red wine. The main objective of this study was to identify the influence of the textural and chemical properties of activated carbons on clarification and decolorization processes. Results: The role of impregnation conditions in porosity development was more important for activated carbons originating from peach stones than in those originating from pine sawdust, mainly due to their morphological differences. The amount of phosphoric acid retained on the precursors was found to be a function of the impregnation variables. Furthermore, porosity development dependence on phosphoric acid content per gram of precursor was confirmed. For both precursors, the best microporosity development was obtained at a heat treatment temperature of 450°C. Independently of the preparation variables used, activated carbons from pine sawdust and peach stones had the same type of surface functional groups:mainly phenolic, quinonic and phosphoric ester-like structures. Conclusions: From the results of clarifications and decolorization tests, it was confirmed that to obtain good performance in these assays, the development of mesoporosity is crucial. However, when activated carbons had similar mesoporosities, the presence of surface functional groups contributed to improved performance in clarification and decolorization process. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry.