Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Iraqi Khestawy Date Palm

Abstract

This work includes a synthesis of three types of the activated carbon (AC) from three different positions from the same Iraqi Khestawy date palm. These three positions are the palm fronds (AC1), the date palm seeds (AC2), and the palm fiber (AC3). These three types of AC were synthesized by a physiochemical activation method using the same activator which was H3PO4. These materials were investigated using different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The adsorption activity of the synthesized AC samples was investigated by following the removal of both Bismarck brown G (BBG) and reactive yellow dye 145 (RY145). Both the kinetics of adsorption and the removal percentage of these dyes were investigated from the batch tests in this study. Different reaction parameters and conditions for adsorption processes were investigated. Also an investigation of both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms was considered. The different physical properties of these materials were undertaken such as the point zero charges of the synthesized samples (PZCs), the percentage of humidity, and the adsorption capacity also being investigated. The activity of these materials in the removal of BBG from the aqueous solution was as follows: AC1>AC2>AC3.