Surface characterization of activated carbons obtained from olive bagasse by chemical activation

Abstract In this study, activated carbons were prepared from olive bagasse by chemical activation using H 3 PO 4 . Chemical activation was carried out by mixing the solution of H 3 PO 4 and olive bagasse with a chemical agent/waste ratio (wt/wt) varying from 1 to 4. The carbonization treatment was performed at 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C. The pore properties including surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution and average pore diameter of the activated carbons were determined by N 2 adsorption at 77 K using the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), t‐plot and density functional theory (DFT) methods. The highest surface area and total pore volume of the activated carbon were 936 m 2 /gand 0.598 cm 3 /g, respectively. The pore size distribution showed that the activated carbons include both micro and mesopores. Under the experimental conditions employed, a carbonization temperature of 400 °C with an impregnation ratio of 4 was found to be suitable for producing activated carbon of high surface area. Surface morphologies of the olive bagasse and the activated carbon were investigated by SEM. According to the experimental results, olive bagasse is a suitable raw material for activated carbon production. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.