Activated carbon from agricultural residues: a review

Abstract

Because of its high adsorption capacity, activated carbon is frequently employed as an effective adsorbent. Activated carbon is a main element for treatment of wastewater, groundwater and water purification. The activating agents greatly affects the porosity and surface area of the produced activated carbon. In this study, the use of agricultural leftovers for the production of activated carbon is discussed in detail. The pyrolysis stage is investigated in relation to a number of process variables. The effects of physical and chemical activation circumstances on the properties of activated carbon are discussed. Under controlled process conditions, many active carbons with Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface areas ranging from 250 to 2,410 m 2 /g and pore volumes ranging from 0.022 to 91.4 cm 3 /g were produced. A review of reaction kinetic modelling applied to pyrolysis of agricultural wastes is also carried out. In this study, effort has been given to show the preparation of activated carbon from various agricultural residues. Also the comparisons of different activated carbon prepared from various agricultural residues have been shown. In the present review, the preparation of activated carbon by treating with different chemicals has also been incorporated.