Carbon: Science and Technology (Jul 2015)
Effect of temperature on micropore of activated carbon from sticky rice straw by H3PO4 activation
Abstract
Microporous activated carbon was prepared from sticky rice straw using activated phosphoric acid. The effects of carbonization temperature, activation temperature, and phosphoric acid on physical and chemical properties of charcoals and activated carbon were studied. The rice straw was carbonized between 300 °C and 700 °C and activated between 600 °C and 800 °C with phosphoric acid using a weight to volume ratio of 1:2 (charcoal:H3PO4). It was found that the suitable carbonization temperature for rice straw charcoal preparation is 600 °C. The micropore of activated carbon made from rice straw based charcoal increased with increasing activation temperature from 600 °C to 800 °C. This phenomenon was confirmed by the iodine number and SEM micrographs. The iodine number of activated carbons produced in this work was in the range from 1137 mg/g to 1762 mg/g