Adsorption of caffeine on mesoporous activated carbon fibers prepared from pineapple plant leaves

- Pineapple plant leaves were used as raw material for preparation of activated carbon fibers (ACFs).
- ACFs were prepared under slow pyrolysis using H3PO4, as activating agent.
- ACFs showed high BET surface area (1031 m2 g−1) and mesoporous development.
- Adsorption studies of Caffeine (CFN) removal using ACFs were investigated.
- ACFs showed monolayer maximum adsorption capacity of 155.50 mg g−1 at 25 °C for CFN.

The present work reports the preparation of activated carbon fibers (ACFs) from pineapple plant leaves, and its application on caffeine (CFN) removal from aqueous solution. The preparation procedure was carried out using the H3PO4 as activating agent and slow pyrolysis under N2 atmosphere. The characterization of materials was performed from the N2 adsorption and desorption isotherms, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Boehm titration and pHpzc method. ACFs showed high BET surface area value (SBET = 1031 m2 g−1), well-developed mesoporous structure (mesopore volume of 1.27 cm³ g−1) and pores with average diameter (DM) of 5.87 nm. Additionally, ACFs showed features of fibrous material with predominance of acid groups on its surface. Adsorption studies indicated that the pseudo-second order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models were that best fitted to the experimental data. The monolayer adsorption capacity was found to be 155.50 mg g−1. thermodynamic studies revealed that adsorption process is spontaneous, exothermic and occurs preferably via physisorption. The pineapple leaves are an efficient precursor for preparation of ACFs, which were successful applied as adsorbent material for removal of caffeine from the aqueous solutions.

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