Potencialidades da cortiça na obtenção de carvões activados

Abstract

When it comes to cork the first idea, the natural cork stopper which protects the best wines in the world, still remains the best known application. History shows that in 3000 BC cork was already being used in regions as far away as China, Egypt, Babylon and Persia, in applications designed for fishing, in burial artifacts, in decorative items and also in containers to store food. Despite this history, today there is constant research, development and exploitation of new applications for this noble material and its derivatives before and after production. In this article, a review of the research developed around the use of waste cork materials for the production of activated carbons used for adsorption in both gas and liquid phases is presented. The results shown by some of the samples show the possibility of producing carbon adsorbents with a set of characteristics, not only structural but also surface chemistry, which are very interesting and comparable to those of commercial carbons, and therefore capable of application in real systems. In the gas phase there is the possibility of adsorption and separation of gases such as N2, O2, CH4, CO2 and volatile organic compounds, while in the liquid phase the removal of phenolic compounds and pharmaceutical compounds present interesting results. Another avenue relates to the production of composites and monoliths from activated carbons or even from recycled cork aglomerates.