Activated Carbon Fiber Derived from Pyrolysis of Palm Fiber

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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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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Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon Fiber Supported Nano-TiO2

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.503-504.646 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 503-504 ◽

pp. 646-649

Author(s):

Xiao Ling Guo ◽

Xiang Dong Wang ◽

De Ping Ben

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Surface Area ◽

Anatase Phase ◽

Sol Gel ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Bet Surface Area ◽

Tetrabutyl Titanate ◽

Nano Tio2 ◽

Mean Size

Nano-TiO2 powders were synthesized by a sol-gel method using tetrabutyl titanate as the precursor, and then the composites of ACF(activated carbon fiber) supported nano-TiO2 was prepared by impregnating method. Tests of the amount of loaded TiO2 showed that three impregnating times was adequate. The Nano-TiO2 powders and composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, and BET surface area method. XRD tests showed that nano-TiO2 powders prepared by this way are anatase phase, and the mean size of the particles is about 11.5nm, when the calcination temperature is 673K. BET results showed that compared with original ACF, the surface area of the composites decreased slightly, indicating the impregnating process did not change the porous structure of original ACF. SEM result indicated that most of the nano-TiO2 particles as the size of 10-20nm were homogeneously dispersed on the surface of ACF.

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Preparation and Characterization of Green Porous Palm Shell Based Activated Carbon by Two Step Chemical Activation Using KOH

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.773-774.1127 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 773-774 ◽

pp. 1127-1132 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Abdurrahman Garba ◽

Hatijah Basri ◽

Noor Shawal Nasri

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Surface Area ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Organic Contaminants ◽

Agricultural Waste ◽

Chemical Activation ◽

Bet Surface Area ◽

Water And Wastewater ◽

Microscopy Images

The large quantity of agricultural waste materials that poses disposal challenge to our environment could be converted into useful products such as activated carbon (AC). Palm oil shell based porous AC was prepared by two step process using KOH as the chemical activant. Palm oil shell was carbonized at 800°C for 2 hours and activated using CO2 at same temperature for 1 hour which yield 23.27% fixed carbon. The AC was characterized by Langmuir surface area, BET surface area and pore volume of 410.7 m2/g, 350 m2/g and 0.2 cm3/g respectively, the FTIR analysis identified the presence of alkanes, carbonyls and hydroxyls as the main functional groups in the AC. Scanning electron microscopy images illustrates the gradual formation of pores from the precursor to the produced AC due to elimination of volatiles and contaminants in the material. However, the AC produced showed basic properties suitable for the removal of hydrophobic organic contaminants in water and wastewater.

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Synthesis and Characterization of Low-Cost Porous Carbon from Palm Oil Shell via K2CO3 Chemical Activation Process

Applied Mechanics and Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amm.735.36 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 735 ◽

pp. 36-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Noor Shawal Nasri ◽

Hatijah Basri ◽

Abdurrahman Garba ◽

Usman Dadum Hamza ◽

Jibril Mohammed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Surface Area ◽

Palm Oil ◽

Porous Carbon ◽

Organic Contaminants ◽

Agricultural Waste ◽

Chemical Activation ◽

Value Added ◽

Bet Surface Area ◽

Activation Process

The abundant fraction of agricultural waste materials in the environment that poses disposal challenge could be converted into useful value added products such as activated carbon. Palm oil shell based carbon was prepared by two step process using K2CO3 as the chemical activant. The Langmuir surface area, BET surface area and pore volume were 817 m2/g, 707m2/g and 0.31cm3/g. From the FTIR analysis, carbonyls, alkenes and hydroxyls were identified. The SEM image shows gradual formation of pores due to elimination of volatiles and contaminants. Carbonization at 800°C for 2 hours and activation at same temperature for 1h has the highest yield of 23.27%. The proximate and ultimate analysis shows high percentage of carbon and low percentage of ash which is an indication of a good material for production of porous carbon. The activated carbon produced showed basic properties suitable for removal of organic contaminants in aqueous solutions. However, the aim of this study is to produce a green and porous carbon with controlled pores and surface properties for organic contaminants removal from water and wastewater.

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

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.686.109 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 686 ◽

pp. 109-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Chee Heong Ooi ◽

Chun Li Ang ◽

Fei Yee Yeoh

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Carbon Fiber ◽

Carbon Content ◽

Oxygen Content ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Agricultural Waste ◽

Activated Carbon Fiber ◽

Activation Process ◽

Empty Fruit Bunch ◽

Direct Activation

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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