Preparation of activated carbon from renewable agricultural residues for removal of environmental pollutants

Activated carbon is one of the most universally used adsorbents in the elimination process of industrial pollutants, heavy metals and dyes, toxic and unpredictable compounds. These properties, besides the chemical character of its surface, which depends on the raw materials and the activation method used in its preparation process, allow it to adsorb and keep certain compounds in a desirable way, either in liquid or gaseous phase. A series of experiments have been conducted to study the effects of various raw materials on porosity in carbonized walnut shell, hazelnut shell and coconut shell. The result showed that activated carbon samples derived from coconut shell had high surface area and total volume as compared to other precursors. The BET surface area and total volume of activated carbon prepared from coconut shell which activated by phosphoric acid was 2061 m2/g and 1.1 cm3/g, respectively. From the results, it was concluded that using chemical activation, proper selections of carbonization temperature and activation time could produce high surface area activated carbon suitable form environmental applications