Estudo da adsorção do paracetamol utilizando carvão ativado da casca de coco de babaçu

Abstract

The presence of emerging pollutants in the environment represents a growing challenge for human health and the preservation of aquatic life. Therefore, it is necessary to adequately treat these effluents before discharging them into rivers and lakes. In this context, the main objective of the present work was to evaluate the performance of activated carbon produced from granular babassu coconut shell in removing paracetamol through the adsorption process. The study began with the evaluation of the performance of activated carbon in removing emerging pollutants, by obtaining experimental data on the adsorption kinetics and equilibrium. Adsorption kinetics were analyzed to study the speed at which pollutants were removed by activated carbon, while the equilibrium study provided information on the adsorption capacity of the material at different concentrations of pollutants. The results showed that the pH study, activated carbon, had favorable conditions for alkaline pH. The kinetic analysis revealed that the model that best suited the experimental data was the pseudo-second order model, indicating that the adsorption of pollutants by activated carbon followed kinetics commonly associated with solid phase adsorption processes. In the adsorption isotherm, the best model fitted to the experimental data was that of Freundlich, suggesting that paracetamol adsorption occurred on heterogeneous surfaces, allowing adsorption in multiple layers. The conclusions highlighted that activated carbon from babassu coconut shell was not only efficient in removing emerging pollutants, but also showed technical and economic viability as a sustainable alternative for treating contaminated water. This work contributed to the advancement of knowledge in effluent treatment area, providing relevant information on the adsorption capacity of activated carbon from babassu coconut shells and its potential as an alternative adsorbent.