Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Bamboo by Chemical Activation

Abstract

In this study, an attempt was made to prepare an activated carbon (AC) from bamboo by chemical activation method. Phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄) was used as a chemical activation agent for the production of AC from bamboo under conditions of temperature 600 °C for 1 h. The AC is an excellent adsorbent and its applications are widely described in literatures. Prepared ACs, are characterized by standard methods XRD, SEM, FTIR, XRF. XRD analysis is used to study the presence of highly organized crystalline structure for AC. SEM and FTIR analysis is used to study the surface morphology and to analyze the functional groups on the prepared carbons surface respectively. FTIR functional groups such as hydroxyl group, lactone group, and carboxyl group were obtained. XRF is used to study the different concentrations of inorganic elements present in the produced AC. The result also shows presence of fifteen elements with their concentration. Thus present study adds one more bio-waste source as useful raw material for preparation of AC.

Keywords: Activated carbon, XRD, FTIR, SEM, XRF