Production and characterization of activated carbon derived from brewer’s yeast

Activated carbon (AC) was produced from brewer’s yeast with K2CO3 activation. The effects of K2CO3/yeast ratio and activation temperature on the yield and adsorption properties of the AC were investigated. The results indicate that the optimum conditions were as follows: ratio of K2CO3/yeast=2 and activation temperature 800 °C. The AC produced under the optimum conditions has BET surface area of 1,603 m2/g, pore volume of 1.43 cm2/g and average pore diameter of 3.5 nm. Adsorption of phenol onto the AC was determined by batch test at solution pH of 7. The effects of contact time and initial phenol concentration were investigated. The adsorption process was found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics. The rate of phenol adsorption onto the AC produced was rapid with the adsorption equilibrium reached within 5 min. The experimental data fitted well with the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum phenol uptake by the AC was estimated to be 513.5 mg/g.