Synthesis and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Corn Cobs using KOH Activation

Abstract

The enormous production of agricultural waste has created major problems for polluting the environment. Current efforts are focused on developing cost-effective and eco-friendly alternatives for disposal of waste materials. Agricultural wastes might be utilized as biochar and activated carbon (AC) precursors due to their higher carbon contents. In the present study, the activated carbon derived from corn cob biomass has been prepared successfully by the pyrolysis method at different temperatures i.e. 600 & 800 °C using potassium hydroxide activation. The synthesized materials (AC) were characterized using different techniques like X-ray diffraction, UV-Visible Spectroscopy, FTIR and N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherm. The FTIR study identified the functional groups and XRD analysis revealed the structure of the prepared material. The FE-SEM images showed that activation of biochar resulted into formation of porous activated carbon with various shapes and sizes of pores. The high surface area 575 m²/g and pore volume 0.291 cm³/g of AC at 800 °C temperature were observed with BET analysis. The optical band gap determined using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy indicates that the absorption edge lies in the ultra-violet region of the optical spectra. The findings of the present study highlight the potential of utilizing agro-wastes as effective precursors for producing activated carbon with minimal expenses. This carbon variant shows promise in various applications such as water purification, metal recovery, energy devices, etc.