Processing and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Coconut Shell and Palm Kernel Shell Waste by H3PO4 Activation

Abstract

Palm kernel shell and coconut shell are used as a precursor for the production of activated carbon, a way of mitigating the tons of waste produced in Ghana. The raw Palm kernel shell and coconut shell were activated chemically using H3PO4. A maximum activated carbon yield of 26.3 g was obtained for Palm kernel shell and 22.9 g for coconut shell at 400oC, an impregnation ratio of 1.2 and 1-hour carbonization time. Scanning electron microscopy reveals well-developed cavities of the H3PO4 activated coconut shell and Palm kernel shell compared to the non-activated carbon. Iodine number of 743.02 mg/g and 682.11 mg/g, a porosity of 0.31 and 0.49 and the electrical conductivity of 2010 μS/cm and 778 μS /cm were obtained for the AC prepared from the coconut shell and Palm kernel shell respectively. The results of this work show that high-quality activated carbon can be manufactured locally from coconut shell and Palm kernel shell waste, and a scale-up of this production will go a long way to reduce the tons of coconut shell and Palm kernel shell waste generated in the country.

Carbon Paste Electrodes Obtained from Organic Waste After a Biodrying Process and Validation in an Electro-Fenton System Towards Alternative Valorization

“…The porous structure belongs to the composition of the precursor, and this can be related to the roughness and the performance of each material discussed later in section 3.4. From the literature, it is known that the most porous material corresponds to the substrate with the larger content of lignin and cellulose [27]. The results of the elemental composition obtained from EDS, potentiometric titration, Boehm titration, point of zero charge (PZC), and sorption capacity are shown in Table 1, corresponding to three activated carbons (sp, ob and eu), as well as reference materials (sb, op, and g).…”

Potentials of palm kernel shell derivatives: a critical review on waste recovery for environmental sustainability

“…PKS possesses the highest yield potential for activated carbon amongst the other waste biomass hence its conversion into activated carbon. For instance, the study of Nyamful et al (2020) used H 3 PO 4 to obtain activated carbon from PKS and coconut shell with a yield of 26.3 g and 22.9 g respectively. The PKS product possessed selectively higher affinity for components of liquids and gases and has been widely applied in industry as bioabsorbent.…”

Removal of heavy metals from industrial paint effluent using coconut shell-derived activated carbon

“…Because of its outstanding mechanical properties, presence of organic/inorganic functional groups, high porosity, high surface area, and low cost, activated carbon has gotten a lot of interest in industrial wastewater treatment. These characteristics found in activated carbon are affected by the technique of activation utilized in its preparation [19].…”