In this work the use of coffee endocarp as precursor for the production of activated carbons by steam and CO2 was studied. Activation by both methods produces activated carbons with small external areas and microporous structures having very similar mean pore widths. The activation produces mainly primary micropores and only a small volume of larger micropores. The CO2 activation leads to samples with higher BET surface areas and pore volumes when compared with samples produced by steam activation and with similar bum-off value. All the activated carbons produced have basic characteristics with point of zero charge between 10 and 12. By FTIR it was possible to identify the formation on the activated carbon's surface of several functional groups, namely ether, quinones, lactones, ketones, hydroxyls (free and phenol); pyrones and Si-H bonds. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.