Activated Carbons derived by Phosphoric acid Activation of Agricultural waste and their Adsorption of Methylene Blue

Abstract

Agricultural wastes can be considered as suitable raw materials for activated carbon production, as activated carbon is considered as an economical adsorption material. Seeds from biomass of Ziziphus mauritiana Lam, grown in Algerian have been valorized for activated carbon production by the phosphoric acid, activation method with pyrolysis temperatures of 400, 500 and 600 °C. The effect of changes in pyrolysis temperatures on the yield and quality of the prepared activated carbon was studied. The obtained activated carbons were characterized by FT-IR and MB adsorption, a good yield of 38,625 %, a high BET surface area of 915,58 m2/g. The removal rate of methylene blue was strongly influenced by contact time, adsorbent mass and pH. An excellent removal % of methylene blue (MB) was obtained at the preferred temperature of 500 °C (AC 500).