Determination of Surface Area of Activated Carbon Biochar Using Methylene Blue and Iodine Number Tests

Ramesh, Tejeshwarr (2023) Determination of Surface Area of Activated Carbon Biochar Using Methylene Blue and Iodine Number Tests. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Surface area of activated carbon can differ from one another. Not all Activated carbon will have the same surface area. Many variables can affect the surface area of the activated carbon such as temperature used for calcination, activation method, dwelling time, origin of the biochar used, etc. All this variable is what determines the quality of the activated carbon. The quality of the activated carbon will then determine how well it’ll perform when removing the pollutants because activated carbon is used extensively in filtration technology due to their high sorptive capacity. This characteristic of the activated carbon will certainly be useful when it comes to solving certain pollution problems and water purification. The surface areas of activated carbon are usually measured by using Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) method. This BET method uses nitrogen adsorption at different pressures at the temperature of liquid nitrogen (77 K), but BET method will not be used in this project. Instead, the surface area of the activated carbon will be estimated by using iodine and methylene blue numbers using multiple regression. Studies have shown that CO2 activated carbon could be an excellent material used for adsorption for iodine and methylene blue from aqueous phase. This is because the material of the activated carbon has a well-developed micro and mesopore structure which helps with the adsorption properties. The activated carbon used is derived from empty fruit bunches (EFB) of oil palm. The EFB was first calcine at 600°C and undergo dwelling for 90 minutes. Then it undergoes activation by oxidation with CO2 gas at 600°C for 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes. These activated carbon with different dwell time will be used for this research to determine which has the beast adsorption capacity and the largest surface area.