Production of activated carbon from peanut shells and surface modification with heteroatom double and heavy metal removal

This thesis work consists of two stages. The first stage involves the production of activated carbon by chemical activation (potassium hydroxide) of pistachio shells as a low-cost and abundant agricultural waste in Turkey by pyrolysis method in an inert gas environment in a conventional furnace. The second stage includes doping hydrogen peroxide with oxygen atoms and doping phosphoric acid with phosphorus atoms on the activated carbon. Impregnation rates, activation temperature and activation time parameters were investigated in activated carbon production experiments. Surface area and pore structures of activated carbons were tried to be determined by iodine number test. SEM, EDS, FTIR, BET and TGA/DTA were used in the characterization analyzes of the obtained activated carbon and heteroatom doped activated carbons. These carbonaceous samples obtained were used as adsorbent for the removal of Cu (II) and Zn (II) heavy metals from environmental waters. The effects of pH, initial concentration and temperature were investigated with the obtained adsorbents. In addition, adsorption, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were carried out.