ANALYSIS OF INFLUENCE OF ACTIVATOR CONCENTRATION ON CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM KETAPANG SHELL (Terminalia Catappa) BASED ON IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD

Abstract

Activated carbon from ketapang shell (Terminalia Catappa) has been successfully synthesized usingdehydration-carbonization method. Activated carbon was conducted by immersing with sulphuric acid andfollowed by carbonization at 600oC for 2 hours. Pore characteristics were determined using imageprocessingmethods of activated carbon micrographs based on parameters of area and caliper length. Fromthe area approximation method obtained that the maximum pore size estimate was 5,69 μm at activatorconcentration 3% while the minimum was 4,88 μm at activator concentration 11% activator concentrationrespectively. At the other hands, caliper length approximation method obtained estimation of maximum poresize that was equal to 9,09 μm at activator concentration 3% and its minimum that was equal to 7,35 μm atactivator concentration 7%. The porosity of the activated carbon from ketapang shell increased with theincrease of sulfuric acid concentration and the highest value reached 24.96%.