ACTIVATED CARBON FROM CHILEAN NATIVE AGRI CULTURAL BY-PRODUCTS AND FOREST RESIDUES

Activated carbons are obtained from Chilean Native Agricultural By-Pro ducts and from Forest Residues through a physical procedure of water s team activation. The products obtained have different surface areas an d the ash-contents are low. The surface of carbons was proved to be ac id by using electrophoretic mobility; and the potentiometric titration , using a base, showed that the organosolv lignin precursor originates carbons with great amount of acid sites. The FT-IR spectrum shows tha t the surface of the carbons obtained contains oxygenated groups. It s eems that they are similar in all the products obtained. The adsorbed amount of the o-chlorophenol is higher than the m- and p-chlorophenol in all the carbons studied. This adsorbed amount increases when the pH of the adsorbate solution decreases. The amount of carbon used, the s olution concentration and the grain size of the carbon used influence the adsorption.