Activated carbon preparation from durian peel wastes using chemical and physical activation

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) made from biomass wastes continue to be improved. One of the raw materials which can be used is durian peel waste. Durian peel waste is one of the large numbers of lignocellulosic residues produced in Indonesia. The high production capacity of durian fruit makes the durian peel waste is available in large quantities. The high composition of the lignocellulosic component made it a promising material to made a high-quality AC. A study using durian peel waste gave a good result, like high carbon composition but had a low surface area. So this research aimed at producing a high surface area of AC with combining chemical activation process using H3PO4 and physical activation using N2. The other methods used were taken from previous studies that performed optimum results. From this study, activated carbon was successfully made with surface area 797.99 m2/g. The SEM results show some macropores were created on the AC surface and the EDX results detected that carbon was the main component of AC. Also, the AC has met the SNI standard.