This study describes liquid phase adsorption characteristics of inulin-type fructan onto activated charcoal.
Batch mode experiments were conducted to study the effects of pH, contact time, temperature
and initial concentration of inulin. Nearly neutral solution (pH 6–8) was favorable to the adsorption
and the equilibrium was attained after 40 min with the maximum adsorption Qmax 0.182 g/g (adsorbate/adsorbent)
at 298K. The experimental data analysis indicated that the adsorption process fitted
well with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 = 1) and Langmuir isotherms model (R2 > 0.99).
Thermodynamic parameters revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and exothermic with
a physical nature. Inulin desorption could reach 95.9% using 50% ethanol solution and activated charcoal
could be reused without significantlosses inadsorptioncapacity. These results are ofpractical significance
for the application of activated charcoal in the production and purification of inulin-type fructan