Production and characterization of activated carbon from pomegranate pulp by phosphoric acid

Abstract

In this study, samples of activated carbon were prepared from pomegranate pulp by chemical activation. H3PO4 was used as chemical activation agent and three impregnation ratios (50-100-200%) by mass were applied on biomass at impregnation times of 24 and 48 hours. Carbonization is applied to impregnated biomass samples under N2 sweeping gas in a fixed bed reactor at 500 and 700 °C. For determination of chemical and physical properties of the obtained activated carbons; elemental analysis was applied to determine the elemental composition (C, H, N, O) and FT-IR spectra was used to analyze the functional groups. BET equation was used to calculate the surface areas of activated carbons. For understanding the changes in the surface structure, activated carbons were conducted to Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Maximum BET surface area (840 m2/g) was reached with the activated carbon generated using 200% H3PO4 impregnated biomass sample, at a carbonization temperature of 700 °C and impregnation time of 48 hours. Experimental results showed that impregnation ratio have a significant effect on the pore structure of activated carbon and pomegranate pulp seems to be an alternative precursor for commercial activated carbon production. © 2018, Turkish Chemical Society. All rights reserved.