Open Access

The Effect of Activating Agents on the Activated Carbon Prepared from Feronia limonia (L.) Swingle (Wood Apple) Shell

S. Karthikeyan, skmush@rediffmail.com
Department of Chemistry, Chikkanna Government Arts College, Tirupur, Tamilnadu, India. P. Sivakumar Department of Chemistry, Arignar Anna Government Arts College, Namakkal, Tamilnadu, India

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Abstract

Activated carbon samples are characterized by their high adsorption capacities. Although the highly active surface properties of the activated carbon are after attributed to the chemical functional groups, surface morphology plays a significant role in determining the surface availability. Micropores, mesopores and macropores distribution in activated carbon samples are closing related to their preparation methods. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the influence of activation methods on the characterization of activated carbon produced from Feronia limonia shell. The resulting samples were characterized by nitrogen adsorption measurements at 77 K to obtain surface area and pore size distributions. The morphology of the resulting sample was observed by scanning electron microscopy and the electronic structure was investigated by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy techniques. Results obtained indicate that the activated carbon prepared using Feronia limonia (L.) Swingle (wood apple) shell by ZnCl₂ carbonization process followed by activation at 800 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere yielded activated carbon with the highest surface area and more developed micro, meso and macroporosity.

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