Effect of Chemical Activating Agents on Surface Area and Methylene Blue Uptake Capacity of Activated Carbons

Effect of Chemical Activating Agents on Activated Carbons

  • Muhammad Saleem Civil Engineering Department, Jubail University College, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52763/PJSIR.PHYS.SCI.64.3.2021.254.264
Keywords: activated carbon, activating agent, characterization, Acacia asak, SBET surface area, MB uptake capacity.

Abstract

Activated carbon from Acacia asak (Fabaceae) tree branches was prepared utilizing three-steps- process and H3P04, ZnCl2, H2S04, K2C03, Na0H and K0H as chemical activating agents. In addition to the elemental analysis of precursor materials, produced activated carbon (ATB-AC) was also analyzed for moisture content, ash content, pH value, bulk density, volatile matter, hardness, specific surface area (SBET), iodine number and pore volume. Results revealed that the quality of ATB-AC is well comparable to the available commercial activated carbon (CAC). The SBET was found to be in the order of ATB-AC1> ATB- AC2> ATB-AC4> ATB-AC6> ATB-AC3> ATB-AC5. All the produced ATB-AC demonstrated good MB (methylene blue) removal efficiency, whereas ATB-AC1 and ATB-AC2 (produced from H3P04, and ZnCl2) showed higher efficiency. It is concluded that the chemical activating agent has significant effect on produced AC keeping all other production parameters constant. Among the six studied chemicals, H3P04 and ZnCl2 produced AC exhibited high SBET surface area and MB uptake capacity.

 

Published
2021-09-29
Issue
Vol 64 No 3 (2021): Pakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research Series A: Physical Sciences
Section
Articles