Cachaça (sugar cane spirit) is a typically Brazilian distilled beverage. Copper ions can be present in craft beverages despite their acceptance in the national and international market. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of chitosan as an adsorbent in removing copper (II) from cachaça. The structural characteristics of the obtained chitosan and the effect of adsorbed copper were evaluated by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), viscosimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The deacetylation reaction from chitin (shrimp shell) resulted in chitosan with a deacetylation degree of 88.9% (potentiometric titration) and 86.9% (FTIR), low crystallinity, and an estimated molecular weight of 162.96 kDa. The copper reduction rate was 84.09% evaluated by spectrophotometric titration and microwave-induced plasma optical emission spectrometry (MIP-OES). The amine groups of chitosan had adsorption affinity with copper ions, and the kinetic analysis showed a better fit of the data by the Elovich equation, suggesting that the chemosorption mechanism controlled the kinetic process. The results suggest that chitosan has the potential to improve the quality and safety of cachaça.
Keywords: adsorption; chitosan; copper (II); removal of potentially toxic element; sugar cane spirits.