Activated carbons (ACs) are artificial materials, prepared from natural or synthetic precursors that
are worldwide extensively used. The ACs main characteristics are the noticeable adsorption
capabilities provided by the highly developed porous structure and the rich surface chemistry.
Because of their versatility and properties the final material can be tailored to have specific
properties suitable for a wide range of applications such as medical uses, gas storage, removal of
pollutants and odours, gas separation and purification as well as in catalysis. With the increase of
activated carbon demand, one of the main challenges lies in the attempt to find new precursors,
which are cheap and accessible with good valorisation potential, like industrial and agricultural
residues.
In the present work we report the production of ACs from sunflower stems, an agricultural
by-product, through a physical activation process by CO2 and H2O, using a single step
carbonisation at 400ºC, which as far as it came to our knowledge was never made for this precursor
