Fine Activated Carbon from Rubber Fruit Shell Prepared by Using ZnCl2 and KOH Activation

Abstract

Fine activated carbon (FAC) is prepared from rubber fruit shells (RFS) using two chemical activating agents (ZnCl2 and KOH) and three impregnation ratios (1:3, 1:4, and 1:5). The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) results show that for a constant impregnation ratio, the ZnCl2 activating agent yields a higher specific surface area than the KOH agent. In particular, for the maximum impregnation ratio of 1:5, the FAC prepared using ZnCl2 has a BET surface area of 456 m2/g, a nitrogen absorption capacity of 150.38 cm3/g, and an average pore size of 3.44 nm. Moreover, the FAC structure consists of 70.1% mesopores and has a carbon content of 80.05 at.%. Overall, the results confirm that RFS, activated using an appropriate quantity of ZnCl2, provides a cheap, abundant, and highly promising precursor material for the preparation of activated carbon with high carbon content and good adsorption properties