The Effect of Chemical Activating Agent on the Properties of Activated Carbon from Sago Waste

Abstract

The effect of chemical activators on the properties of activated carbon from sago waste was conducted in this study by using ZnCl2, H3PO4, KOH, and KMnO4 chemical solutions. The carbonized sago waste was added to each chemical solution, boiled at 85 °C for 4 h, and heated at 600 °C for 3 h. The porosity, microstructural, proximate, and surface chemistry analyses were carried out using nitrogen adsorption with employing the Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method and the Barret-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) calculation, scanning electron microscopy by using energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer, simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis system, and the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the activated carbon prepared using ZnCl2 acid had the highest specific surface area of 546.61 m2/g, while the KOH activating agent surpassed other chemicals in terms of a refined structure and morphology, with the lowest ash content of 10.90%. The surface chemistry study revealed that ZnCl2 and KOH activated carbon showed phenol and carboxylate groups. Hence, ZnCl2 acid was suggested as activating agents for micropore carbon, while KOH was favorable to producing a mesopore-activated carbon from sago waste.

Surface modification of activated carbon from sago waste

“…The samples were later dried in an oven at a temperature of 110℃ for 2 h to get the activated carbon product. Detailed procedures are available in the previous report [10], and the product was donated as total activated carbon.…”

“…The carbon material was prepared using a ZnCl2 activator reagent, with a surface area of more than 500 m 2 •g -1 and a relatively high carbon content at 40%. A surface chemistry study also found that the activated carbon also consists of phenol and carboxylate groups [4,10].…”

“…The advantage of turning waste to value-added products, has triggered studies to explore more renewable and low-cost precursor material for activated carbon production. One of the most promising sources of activated carbon is made from sago waste, expanding its potential use beyond the current application as traditional food production [4,9,10]. The sago waste is full of lignocellulosic fibers, which makes them ideal to use as activated carbon precursors [11].…”

Coupling behavior and enhancement mechanism of porous structure, graphite microcrystals, and oxygen-containing groups of activated biochar for the adsorption of phenol

“…23 The AB prepared with ZnCl 2 acid had a high specific surface area of 546.61 m 2 g −1 . 24 The acid modification process improves the amount of oxygen-containing functional groups in biochar, 25 especially H 3 PO 4 modification that could increase the number of –COOH and –OH groups on the surface of biochar. 26 The H 3 PO 4 modification was propitious to form disordered carbon at the fixed pyrolysis temperature, which implied a low degree of graphitization.…”

Physicochemical properties of porous activated carbon prepared from palm kernel shell through a low-cost activation protocol

“…Fundamentally, the porous and adsorption properties of chemically prepared AC depend on the pyrolysis conditions and the type of precursors (preferably high-carbon, low-ash, high-availability and low-cost precursors) 2 and the activators used. Often chemical activation contributes to the porous structure and chemical properties of AC 21 and many chemical activators, such as ZnCl 2 21 , KMnO 4 22 , H 3 PO 4 23 , KOH and K 2 CO 3 24 , have been used in the preparation of AC.…”