The Properties of Activated Carbon Fiber Derived from Direct Activation from Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fiber

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is an abundant agricultural waste available in Malaysia. More than two million tonnes (dry weight) of extracted oil palm fiber are estimated to be generated annually. Usually the EFB is used as boiler fuel to produce steam in the palm oil mills. EFB fiber can be used to prepare activated carbon fiber (ACF) by carbonization and activation. Conversion of EFB fiber to ACF will reduce the amount of agricultural waste produced annually and it represents a potential source of adsorbents used for adsorption. The ACF has many advantages as compared to the conventional activated carbon found in powder or granular form. These advantages include large surface area, high adsorption capacity and high rates of adsorption from the gas or liquid phase. In this study, ACF produced from EFB fiber by single step direct activation process (ACF-D) was compared against ACF produced by conventional 2-step carbonization and activation (ACF-ND). The different properties between ACFs produced were investigated. The raw EFB and ACFs were characterized by a SEM and EDS, FTIR and XRD. The results show that EFB has carbon content of 63.33 weight percentage (wt %) with oxygen content of 36.67 wt %. ACF-D was found to have a high carbon content of 93.63 wt%, with low oxygen content (5.19 wt %). ACF-ND gave a higher carbon content up to 95.68 wt% and accompanied by a lower oxygen content (3.85 wt %).

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Adsorption Property, Kinetic and Equilibrium Studies of Activated Carbon Fiber Prepared from Liquefied Wood by Zncl2 Activation

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma12091377 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (9) ◽

pp. 1377 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ruoke Ma ◽

Xianxian Qin ◽

Zhigao Liu ◽

Yunlin Fu

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Adsorption Property ◽

Chemical Activation ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Activation Process ◽

Order Kinetic ◽

Liquefied Wood ◽

Zncl2 Activation ◽

Mb Adsorption

Activated carbon fiber was prepared from liquefied wood by chemical activation with ZnCl2 (Z-LWACF) at different impregnation ratios, with a particular focus on its adsorption property, kinetic and isotherm. The characterization and properties of Z-LWACFs were investigated by nitrogen adsorption/desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), methylene blue (MB) and iodine adsorption. Two activation process methods were employed to prepare Z-LWACF and contrasted with others fibers. The results showed that the Z-LWACF obtained by one-step ZnCl2 activation present higher yields and specific surface area than others fibers. Besides, the change of MB adsorption value at different impregnation ratios was consistent with pore structure distribution above 1.5 nm pore size, indicating that larger micropores (1.5 to 2 nm) and mesopores played a major role in the MB adsorption by Z-LWACF. The kinetics of MB adsorption process was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption rate was controlled by chemisorption. It was also found that MB adsroption by Z-LWACF belonged to monolayer adsorption and Z-LWACF was easy to adsorb MB.

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Organic and Inorganic Acid Activation of Activated Carbon Fiber from Palm Oil Empty Fruit Bunch

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.858.122 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 858 ◽

pp. 122-130

Author(s):

Wee Keat Cheah ◽

Radzali Othman ◽

Fei Yee Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Chemical Activation ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Raw Material ◽

Acid Activation ◽

Empty Fruit Bunch ◽

Pore Characteristics ◽

Inorganic Acids

Activated carbon fiber is known to posses better properties compared to granular and powdered variants, with significantly higher surface area and higher pore volume. Source of raw material and activation step are two crucial parameters for the pore development of activated carbon. Palm oil empty fruit bunch fiber contains naturally formed long open channels which offer better access of adsorbates into micropores. Chemical activation step typically involves inorganic acids such as phosphoric acid and sulfuric acid. However, such residues of inorganic acids might create unfavourable conditions for certain adsorption applications, if not removed properly from synthesized activated carbon fiber. Additionally, subsequent to the acid cleaning or removal step, most inorganic acids would eventually cause problems to the environment if acid disposal is not properly managed. This paper investigates on the effect of utilization of organic acids acetic acid and citric acid, as compared to commonly used inorganic acids, on the pore characteristics of palm oil empty fruit bunch fiber derived activated carbon fiber.

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Activated Carbon Fiber Derived from Pyrolysis of Palm Fiber

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.686.92 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 686 ◽

pp. 92-103 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ting Lee ◽

Akihiko Matsumoto ◽

Radzali Othman ◽

Fei Yee Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Agricultural Waste ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Micropore Volume ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Bet Surface Area ◽

N2 Atmosphere ◽

Surface Morphologies

Palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is an abundant by-product resulted from massive palm oil production in Malaysia as one of the world's largest exporter and second largest producer of palm oil. This agricultural waste is usually disposed in nature, burnt in opened atmospheres, or used as a fuel for boilers. Such conventional handlings of EFB have created environmental concerns to Malaysia such as air pollution and release of green house gases (CH4 and CO2). This study made use of such biomass in the production of cost effective nanoporous material, namely activated carbon fiber (ACF) which able to diminish the problem of waste disposal, and at the same time to turn waste into wealth. This is especially beneficial when the ACF is used for environmental friendly application such as adsorbed natural gas (ANG) technology. ACF was formed from carbonaceous materials via process of carbonisation and activation. Both chemical and physical activations were carried out by using H2SO4 and CO2, respectively. In pyrolysis, carbonisation was conducted at temperatures i.e. 400, 600, 800 and 1000 °C in nitrogen (N2) atmosphere. Surface morphologies, microstructures, pore structures and surface chemistry of these samples were investigated for the characterisation of EFB fiber-derived ACF. Above 80% of the total pore volumes for the samples were contributed by the micropore as the major pore components in the ACF produced. The samples exhibited an high BET surface area , dominant micropore volume up and narrow pore size distribution in micro range (< 1.5 nm).

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Conversion and characterization of activated carbon fiber derived from palm empty fruit bunch waste and its kinetic study on urea adsorption

Journal of Environmental Management ◽

10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.03.083 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 197 ◽

pp. 199-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Chee-Heong Ooi ◽

Wee-Keat Cheah ◽

Yoke-Leng Sim ◽

Swee-Yong Pung ◽

Fei-Yee Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Kinetic Study ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Empty Fruit Bunch ◽

Characterization Of Activated Carbon

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KOH direct activation for preparing activated carbon fiber from polyacrylonitrile-based pre-oxidized fiber

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ◽

10.1007/s40242-014-4059-1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 441-446 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Lili Gao ◽

Haiyan Lu ◽

Haibo Lin ◽

Xiuyun Sun ◽

Jianling Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Direct Activation

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Oil palm empty fruit bunch valorization for activated and non-activated carbon nanoparticles and its heavy-metal-removal efficiency

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2021.166 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Salma Zubaidah ◽

Adisti Permatasari Putri Hartoyo ◽

Januard Kristian Sihombing ◽

Elis Nina Herliyana ◽

Saptadi Darmawan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Heavy Metals ◽

Heavy Metal ◽

Activated Carbon ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Carbon Nanoparticles ◽

Metal Removal ◽

Heavy Metal Removal ◽

Activation Process ◽

Empty Fruit Bunch

Abstract In this study, we examined activated and non-activated carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) fibers for their nanomaterial characteristics and their potential effectiveness in heavy metal removal. To investigate these properties, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry were employed. This study shows that both the activated and the non-activated CNPs were in the form of well-dispersed and aggregated particles. As analyzed using SEM, the external surfaces of the non-activated CNPs were determined to be irregular, while those of the activated CNPs had a more circular shape without aggregation. Carbon was the most dominant element observed in these CNPs, and the occurrence of its activation process altered the chemical functional groups of the non-activated CNPs by shifting their wavenumbers and intensities. Additionally, the activation process increased the crystallinity domain in the activated CNPs. OPEFB fibers could be valorized to obtain both activated and non-activated CNPs that had the potential efficiency to remove heavy metals, including copper (Cu), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), and zinc (Zn) at certain times. Based on the analysis of the Langmuir and Freundlich models, the activated and non-activated CNPs were found to have shown favorable adsorption to Cu, Pb, and Fe, with a percentage of heavy metal removal of over 84%. The adsorption of heavy metals was carried out via a chemical process.

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Preparation and Characterization of Mesoporous Activated Carbon Fiber

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.480-481.6 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 480-481 ◽

pp. 6-10

Author(s):

Yan Feng Yang ◽

Xue Jun Zhang ◽

Hai Yan Li

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Specific Surface ◽

Pore Size ◽

Surface Area ◽

Specific Surface Area ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Activation Process ◽

Cobalt Salt

General purpose pitch-based carbon fiber (PCF) was pretreated with steam to develop pores on the surface of fiber. After immersed in cobalt salt solution, PCF was used as raw materials to prepare activated carbon fiber (ACF) through steam activation process. The effect of pretreatment of carbon fiber on specific surface area, mesopore volume and pore size distribution was investigated by N2 adsorption, and morphology of the resultant ACF was observed with scanning electron microscope(SEM). The results show that pretreatment of PCF enlarges specific surface area and mesopore ratio of ACF remarkably. The best ACF obtained in experiment is the one with specific surface area of 2670 m2/g and mesoporosity of 61.8%. Cobalt has evident catalysis in preparing ACF from activation of PCF, while specific surface area and pore size of ACF get smaller with cobalt salt immersion when pretreatment is too strong.

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Activation of carbon fiber for enhancing electrochemical performance

Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers ◽

10.1039/c9qi01028a ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (12) ◽

pp. 3583-3597 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Chaohui Ruan ◽

Pengxi Li ◽

Jing Xu ◽

Yucheng Chen ◽

Yibing Xie

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Electrochemical Performance ◽

Electrode Material ◽

Thermal Activation ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Activation Process ◽

Thermal Activation Process ◽

Carbon Fiber Electrode ◽

Fiber Electrode

Carbon fiber sequentially undergoes thermal activation, electrochemical oxidation activation, electrochemical reduction activation and a secondary thermal activation process to form a highly activated carbon fiber electrode material.

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