Activated carbon composite prepared from rice husk using phosphoric acid activation has been
studied through precarbonization of the precursor followed by chemical activation. This method
can produce carbons with micro- and mesoporous structure. The ratio of chemical activating
agent to precarbonized carbon was fixed at 4.2. The surface area, pore volume, and pore size
distribution of carbon composite samples activated at three different temperatures (700, 800,
and 900 °C) were measured using nitrogen adsorption isotherms at 77 K. The pore-opening and
pore-widening effects occurred simultaneously during the process, as evidenced by scanning
electron micrographs. The X-ray diffraction curve revealed the evolution of crystallites of carbon
and silica during activation at higher temperature. The FTIR spectrum also provided evidence
for the presence of silica in the carbon composite. The proper choice of the preparation conditions
had an influence on the micropore and mesopore volumes of the activated carbon composite,
which were 0.1187 and 0.2684 cm3/g, respectively. The production yield was observed to decrease
with increasing activation temperature.
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