Activated carbon has been extensively utilized to adsorb pollutants generated by industrial activities. There have been many attempts to efficiently produce activated carbon from spent coffee grounds in the field of environmental technology. In this study, the feasibility of the novel production of activated carbon from coffee ground waste using a plasma jet was evaluated. A rotating gliding arc generator was designed that used an N₂ plasma jet for the carbonization process and a CO₂ plasma jet for the activation process. It was confirmed that the coffee ground waste could be carbonized and activated by the two plasma jets in the same reactor. The characteristics of the surface morphologies of the activated carbon samples varied depending on the plasma treatment conditions, such as the electric power of the plasma jet and the treatment time. The results implied that the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon could be optimized by regulating the pore size and distribution based on the plasma treatment conditions with regard to the molecular size of the target adsorbate.

活性炭已被广泛用于吸附工业活动产生的污染物。在环境技术领域中，已经进行了许多尝试来从废咖啡渣有效地生产活性炭。在这项研究中，评估了使用等离子流从咖啡渣中新颖生产活性炭的可行性。设计了旋转滑弧发生器，该发生器使用N ₂等离子射流进行碳化过程，并使用CO ₂等离子射流用于激活过程。证实了咖啡渣可以被同一反应器中的两个等离子流碳化和活化。活性炭样品的表面形态的特性根据等离子处理条件如等离子流的电功率和处理时间而变化。结果暗示，可以通过基于等离子处理条件针对目标被吸附物的分子大小调节孔径和分布来优化活性炭的吸附容量。