Currently, cashew nut ( L.) shell is abundantly available as waste from chasew nut Keywords: Cashenut shell, activated charcoal, properties and quality, Indonesian National Standard ABSTRAKSaat ini, tempurung biji jambu mete ( L.) banyak tersedia sebagai limbah dari Anacardium occidentale industri pengolahan jambu mete. Secara teori, tempurung jambu mete berpotensi dikembangkan untuk arang aktif. Tulisan ini mempelajari sifat dan mutu arang aktif dari tempurung biji jambu mete, dan mengevaluasi kondisi pembuatan arang aktif untuk menghasilkan mutu arang aktif yang optimum. Pada awalnya, tempurung biji jambu mete dikumpulkan dan diarangkan pada suhu 500°C selama 3 jam. Kemudian arang tempurung biji jambu mete diaktivasi pada suhu 800°C, 900°C, dan 1000°C selama 30, 60, dan 90 menit. Data kemudian dianalisa menggunakan analisis sidik ragam dan uji Tukey untuk uji perbedaan lanjutan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan tempurung jambu mete berpotensi untuk dibuat arang aktif komersial. Kualitas optimum arang aktif dari tempurung jambu mete dapat dihasilkan dari proses aktivasi pada suhu 1000°C selama 90 menit, yang dapat memproduksi arang aktif dengan kadar air 0,40%, kadar zat terbang 8,85%, kadar karbon terikat 77,40%, dan kapasitas daya jerap metilen biru 131,35 mg/g. Hampir semua sifat arang aktif terhadap terhadap memenuhi persyaratan mutu daya jerap metilen biru yang telah ditetapkan dalam Standar 123

Cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale L.) shell is abundantly available as waste from chasew nut processing industries. Cashew nut shell is potentially used for activated charcoal. This paper characterize the porosity microstructure of activated charcoal made from cashew nut shells which is physically activated at various activation temperatures. Initially, cashew nut shells were collected and carbonized at 500°C for 3 hours. Then, the charcoal was activated at 800°C and 1000°C for 60 minutes. The characterization of microstructure porosity of cashew nut shell activated charcoal at transverse cross-section was carried out at 500 times magnification of 10 kV Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) using a grain-shaped test sample. Observation of the porosity formed on the sample surface included pore size and frequency. Observation data were arranged in tabulated form and analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the frequency of pores in charcoal activated at 1000°C tended to be higher than that of charcoal activated at 800°C. The higher activation temperature increased the pore diameter of the charcoal and decreased the clogging residue. Keywords: mesoporous, pyrolysis, hydrocarbon