Production of activated carbon via slow pyrolysis of biomass

In this study, activated carbon production from poplar sawdust was carried out via chemical activation. The influences of parameters such as chemical species, temperature, impregnation time, impregnation ratio on activated carbon production were investigated. Activation experiments were carried out with two different chemical species ( ZnCl2 ve H3PO4 ), temperatures of 500oC, 700oC or 800oC, at the impregnation ratio of 0,5/1; 1/1; 2/1 and impregnation times of 24 or 48 hours. Activated carbons produced were characterized by FTIR, SEM and BET. Activated carbon which has the one of the max surface area (906.692 m2/g) is produced using ZnCl2 with (1/1) impregnation ratio. This activated carbon was used as an adsorbent for the dye removal, from aqueous solutions. The influences of pH, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration and temperature on adsorption were investigated. The maximum dye removal efficiency was 88.3 %. This was achieved using at a concentration of 0.2 gL-1 and a solution pH of 3.