Synthesis and characterization of low cost activated carbon from dried rind Garcinia xanthochymus

Abstract

In this work, an attempt to synthesize highly porous activated carbon (ZnCl2-AC) was carried out from dried rind Garcinia xanthochymus with 1:1.5 impregnation ratio of Raw material: ZnCl2, impregnation time of 30 min and activation temperature of 400 C. The raw material and ZnCl2-AC were characterized by CHNS/O analyzer, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analyses. ZnCl2-AC was subjected for iodine number evaluation by sodium thiosulphate titration which resulted in 1033.41 mgg-1 and it registered a percentage yield of 36.43. CHNS/O analysis confirmed the increase in Carbon% in ZnCl2-AC (61.78%) compared to the raw dried rind Garcinia xanthochymus (42%). FTIR analysis proved that some functional groups observed in the IR spectra of raw disappeared for the prepared AC due to the carbonization and activation processes. SEM analysis showed changes in porosity of raw and prepared AC where the opening hole and cave occurred in surface of prepared ZnCl2-AC. To conclude, a highly porous and high surface area AC was successfully derived from low cost dried rind Garcinia xanthochymus.