Obtención de carbón activado a partir del bagazo de caña, para su uso en la remoción de los fármacos diclofenaco y amoxicilina en aguas residuales

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) is a material with a high surface area, microporous structure, simple regeneration and a surface chemistry that allows the formation of a layer of particles due to the presence of carboxylic, and phenolic groups, ketones, quinones, hydroquinones and aldehydes that provides the characteristic of adsorbent material. Obtaining activated carbon is based on two fundamental processes. First, the carbonization of the raw material and subsequently the activation of the product, this can be carried out physically or chemically. In the present work, the use of sugarcane bagasse as raw material and phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) at different concentrations (15%, 30% and 50%) as a chemical activator. In addition, a comparison of results was made with a commercial AC. Regarding the results, diclofenac adsorption values of 138 mg/g were obtained, giving a good adsorbent capacity to the synthesized AC compared to other studies. Now, the adsorption of amoxicillin it is seen that the value is not so important compared to diclofenac, with values of 13.16 mg/g and 45.45 mg/g for the synthesized AC and the commercial AC respectively, compared to other studies the result is not very efficient. AC from sugarcane bagasse is presented as an adsorbent obtained from a low-cost agricultural biomass, which is promising for its application in the control of water pollution and presents a very valuable economy with environmental benefits.