Coffee grounds to purify water

Water pollution is undoubtedly becoming the major issue of the 21st century, and one of the main concerns of scientists and government bodies alike. Industrial discharges containing various contaminants are posing serious problems in many countries around the world, prompting them to find and develop appropriate, economically viable and environmentally-friendly treatment methods for recycling wastewater. It is within this framework that this work falls, the ultimate objective of which is to evaluate the potential use of coffee grounds, in their raw state or activated in the form of activated carbon, in the treatment of industrial waste loaded with colorants and heavy metals. The first part of the project involved the preparation and characterization of coffee grounds and their carbon. The results showed that this waste can be used as a raw adsorbent or as a precursor for the production of activated carbon. Physicochemical characterization of the prepared activated carbon revealed that it has properties close to those of a commercial activated carbon.