Characterization of Modified Fe-Cu Nanoparticle Activated Carbon Derived of Oil Palm Empty Bunches

Abstract

We prepared activated carbon from empty oil palm bunches by modifying the metal (Fe and Cu) in the structure of the activated carbon. Empty oil palm bunches obtained in Padang Bulan, Medan, North Sumatera and after washed, it mashed then heated at 500 °C for 1 minutes. For modification, activated carbon was dissolved in a 0.1 M solution of Fe(NO3)2 and Cu(NO3)2 which is heated at 60 oC for 3 hours. Activated carbon without and with modification was then characterized using XRD and SEM / EDX. The XRD results showed slighly change after modification with new peaks appearing and missing peaks. SEM images also show that the activated carbon before modification is irregular in shape, while the activated carbon after modification is more regular and homogeneous. The presence of Fe and Cu on the modified activated carbon is also evidenced by the EDX image, which shows the presence of Fe and Cu peaks when compared to activated carbon before modification which does not show the presence of Fe and Cu metals. It successful to modified Fe and Cu inside the activated carbon of empty oil palm bunches which consider to improve their adsorption properties.