Preparation and Characterization of Granular Activated Carbon from Corn Cob by KOH Activation

Abstract

In the present work studies related to the production of granular activated carbon, by using agricultural waste corn cob granules (dried and sieved to 12x16 mesh size),as a precursor material and potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent  are presented. Precursor material was analyzed for elemental analysis, and the effect of carbonization temperatures for 600, 700, 800 and 900°C is examined.  Higher BET surface area of 940 m² /g was observed for temperature of 800°C. The results show that agricultural waste corn cob can be used as a promising precursor material for the production of low cost activated carbon.