A new and low-cost adsorbent material from mesocarp fibre char

Abstract

The present work aims to investigate the potential of MF-based biochar via a slow pyrolysis method for activated carbon production. Through the method of chemical activation using various concentrations of KOH, the optimum condition of AC products was determined. Oil palm mesocarp fibre (MF) biochar impregnated with different ratios of KOH (1:2, 1:3, and 1:4) were subjected to activation at a temperature of 800 °C for 1 h holding time at 5 ^oC/min heating rate and with a nitrogen flow rate of 1 L/min. For biochar characterization, the pyrolyzed samples were investigated using SEM-EDX. To confirm the amorphous phase and crystalline structure of the prepared samples, XRD and micro-Raman spectroscopy were utilized. Meanwhile, the AC samples were characterized using BET, TGA analysis, and XPS. Herein, the optimum parameter for producing AC was presented by a 1:3 ratio of OPMF biochar which resulted in the lowest pore diameter (2.67 nm) in BET analysis. Further analysis was executed by UV–Vis spectroscopy to investigate the performance of AC products as adsorbent material. The result shows that the sample MFAC-2 demonstrated the highest rate of adsorption (68.07 %) which promoted the potential of OPMF usage as a low-cost AC production consequently minimizing the disposal management issues.