Optimization of Preparation Conditions of Activated Carbon from Millet Stalk Agricultural Waste
By Sanni D.A, Woke, G.N., Gbarakoro, T.N.The use of Activated Carbon (AC) has a long history dating back to ancient times. In recent years, there has been growing interest in utilizing agricultural by-products as a potential resource for water pollution control. The study investigates and explore the optimization of preparation conditions of activated carbon from millet stalk agricultural waste. To obtain millet stalk activated carbon with the best performance, three parameters that influence the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon: iodine number, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and bulk density were examined by systematically varying the preparation process variables including phosphoric acid (H3PO4) acid concentration, impregnation ratio, and carbonization temperature. From the result, higher concentration of H3PO4 leads to a decrease in bulk density while a decrease in bulk density may improve adsorption capacity. From the result, it can be seen clearly that the CEC of the adsorbent begins to increase with an increase of the temperature from 350 to 550 °C, reaches a maximum of 2.5 meq/g at 550 °C and subsequently decreases when the temperature exceeds 550 °C. Agricultural wastes such as millet stalk considered as suitable raw materials for preparation of activated carbon by using different chemical activating agents.