[Paul1245]

I am looking for a way of removing caffeine from a solution, but leave the solution safe to consume. I dont need to save the caffeine, just get rid of it.

I have 1st year chem experience, and I have removed caffeine from tea in a lab. However, in that case we isolated only the caffeine and discarded everything else.

Thanks!

[Arkcon]

You're unlikely to find a procedure suitable for home use, a little googling will let you know the industrial procedures, so you can see for yourself.

Question -- you removed caffeine from tea in your class lab, but discarded the tea, can't you just not discard the tea and have decaffeinated tea?  If you've contaminated the tea too much to be usable in the process of your 1st year class, well, doesn't that answer your own question about the feasibility of diy decaffeinating?

[Mitch]

Usual methods involve extraction using chlorinated solvents, which you do not want to sip accidentally even in trace amounts.

[Paul1245]

Im not sure if this would work, but what about using Acetone to dissolve the caffeine, and then using ethanol to remove the acetone, then just let the ethanol evaporate.

Does this make sense?

[Mitch]

both acetone and ethanol dissolves in water and can not be separated out from an aqueous solution.

[Paul1245]

Would that work for removing caffeine from a powder? Say if you evaporated all the water and were just left with all the solutes.

Also, I read that salt will decrease the solubility of caffeine, would this just decrease the solubility of caffeine? or everything?

source: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/91015535/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

[Mitch]

it would decrease the solubility of everything.