Isolation of Thermally Stable Cellulose Nanocrystals from Spent Coffee Grounds via Phosphoric Acid Hydrolysis

As the world's population exponentially grows,so does the need for the production of food,with cereal production growing annually from an estimated 1.0 billion to 2.5 billion tons within the last few decades.This rapid growth in food production results in an ever increasing amount of agricultural wastes,of which already occupies nearly 50%of the total landfill area.For example,is the billions of dry tons of cellulose-containing spent coffee grounds disposed in landfills annually.This paper seeks to provide a method for isolating cellulose nanocrystals(CNCs)from spent coffee grounds,in order to recycle and utilize the cellulosic waste material which would otherwise have no applications.CNCs have already been shown to have vast applications in the polymer engineering field,mainly utilized for their high strength to weight ratio for reinforcement of polymer-based nanocomposites.A successful method of purifying and hydrolyzing the spent coffee grounds in order to isolate usable CNCs was established.The CNCs were then characterized using current techniques to determine important chemical and physical properties.A few crucial properties determined were aspect ratio of 12±3,crystallinity of 74.2%,surface charge density of(48.4±6.2)mM/kg cellulose,and the ability to successfully reinforce a polymer based nanocomposite.These characteristics compare well to other literature data and common commercial sources of CNCs.

Studies on Composting Spent Coffee Grounds by <i>Aspergillus sp</i>and <i>Aspergillus sp</i>in Aerobic Static Batch Temperature Control

Spent Coffee Ground (SCG) is characterized by high organic content, in the form of insoluble polysaccharides bound and phenol compounds. Phenol compounds are toxic to nature and are a cause of environmental pollution. Composting method of this study is aerobic static batch composting with temperature control with adding activators of some fungi such as Aspergillus sp, and Penicillium sp. The purpose of the research is to fill the research gap from previous studies of spent coffee grounds compost, which requires a long time in composting, so that if it is used directly on the soil and plants, the positive effect also requires a long time. The result of composting for 28 days with this method is that mature compost has black crumb and normal pH, with characteristics of C/N ratio below 10: C1 (7.06), C2 (6.99). This value is far from the control with a C/N ratio of 8.33. Decompose rate of macromolecule are above 40% for lignin and 70% for cellulose. Implementation of compost in radish plants, resulting Germination Index above 80% which indicates that the compost is ripe: control (92.39%), C1 (183.88%), C2 (191.86%). The results of the analysis with FTIR also showed that the compost was mature and stable, and rich in minerals. So, it can be concluded that this composting method can speed up composting time and optimize the results of compost produced.

Fabrication of carbonized spent coffee grounds/graphene nanoplates/cyanate ester composites for superior and highly absorbed electromagnetic interference shielding performance

The conductive polymer composites(CPCs) with highly efficient electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding effectiveness(SE) are always accompanied with excessive reflectivity, which would cause serious secondary EMI pollution. In this regard, the significant reduction of EMI reflection of CPCs to alleviate secondary pollution is deemed to be very important. Herein, a promising cyanate ester(CE) based composite was successfully fabricated by compounding carbonized spent coffee grounds(C-SCG) and graphene nanosheets(GNSs) via a facile solution blending followed by a hot-pressing method. Benefiting from the porous structure of C-SCG and the layered structure of GNSs, a three-dimensional(3 D)multi-interface conductive network in the CE was easily constructed. The EMI SE of the resultant 9 wt%C-SCG/CE composite(C9) is 15.38 d B and dramatically enhanced to 31.09 d B with the presence of 3 wt% GNSs. The remarkable enhancement is mainly attributed to the formation of the efficient conductive pathways as well as the well-dispersion of the incorporated fillers. Meanwhile, the absorption-dominated shielding mechanism in the prepared composites gets benefit from the synergistic effect of porous C-SCG and lamellar GNSs, which effectively captures and attenuates electromagnetic waves. These encouraging findings extend the practical applications of porous biocarbon materials in EMI shielding field.

Pyrolytic carbon derived from spent coffee grounds as anode for sodium-ion batteries

This paper reported the facile preparation of pyrolytic carbon derived from spent coffee grounds and the evaluation of its electrochemical performance when used as anode in sodium-ion battery.X-ray diffraction analysis,scanning electron microscope,Brunauer–Emmett–Teller were employed to characterize the structure of pyrolytic carbon.Electrochemical performances were tested by constant current charge–discharge,cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.Results showed that the pyrolytic carbon possess a porous structure(1–2 lm)and a specific surface area of 94.35 m2 g
1.When used as anodes in sodium-ion batteries,a reversible capacity of 154.2 mA h g
1 at a current density of 200 mA g
1 after 50 cycles was obtained.Several electrolytes were evaluated and their electrochemical performances were compared.The result indicated that this material has excellent storage capacity and good cycling stability.Our method provided a preparation of pyrolytic carbon from environmentally friendly resources.

Adsorption of Phosphate and Nitrate Using Modified Spent Coffee Ground and Its Application as an Alternative Nutrient Source for Plant Growth

Phosphate (PO43-) and Nitrate (NO3-) are two main nutrients that cause water eutrophication. In the other hand, the presence of PO43- and NO3- is needed for plant growth. The aims of this study are to recycle Spent Coffee Ground (SCG) modified with calcium hydroxide for adsorption PO43- and NO3-. The optimum adsorption capacity for PO43- and NO3- is 36.74 mg/L and 20.21 mg/L, respectively. The Freundlich isotherm model was suitable for PO43- and NO3- adsorption. The kinetic model for adsorption was linear using Pseudo-second order. The application of modified SCG after enrichment with PO43- and NO3- for plant growth (Raphanus sativus) showed optimum growth at a dose of 0.3% with value of germination index was 203%.