Synthesis of Activated Carbon From Palm Oil Shell by Chemical Activation Method

Abstract

An abundance of palmoil shell as a byproduct of the palmoil industry encourages the desire to increase the economic value of such materials that have been used as fuel only and is not used optimally. Thismaerial could be developed as activated carbon that can be used inmany industries particularlyin the field of petroleum, water treatment, gas industry, food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and chemical industries. Thus, the need for these materials will continue to rise. The aim of this study is to obtain activated carbon by chemical activationmethod through the process of carbonization and activation stages. The carbonization process was carried out at a temperature of 300 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C for duration of 1, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3 hours. While the chemical activation process is done by using the activator of NaOH, NaCl, and HCl with a concentration of 2 % and duration of activation is 1, 2, and 4 hours. Carbonization process showed the best results at 500 °C and 3 hours process giving carbon with water content of 18%, yield of 23%, a volatile substance 3% and levels of fixed carbon 61%. Chemical activation by NaOH for 4 hours showed the best results with activated charcoal water content 3.6 % and adsorptive capacity of I2 851.8797 mg/g. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) results show that before activation pores formed are still closed by the impurities and after the activation, these pores are more open so that the adsorption surface area becomes larger