| Summary: | Activated carbon with high surface area was successfully produced from banana pseudo-stem through a single step chemical activation process. The effect of activation parameters such as types of activating chemical (ZnCl2 and H3PO4), impregnation ratios (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4 and 1:5 precursor/activating agent), activation time (30, 60, 90 and 120 min) and activation temperature (400, 500, 600, 700 and 800 °C) were evaluated based on optimum product yield and iodine number. The optimized parameters were found at impregnation ratio of 1:2 using ZnCl2, activation time and the activation temperature of 60 min and 600 °C respectively. The product obtained from optimum parameters was further investigate using chemical and textural characteristic by using N2 adsorption-desorption measurement, elemental analyser CHNS, SEM, FTIR. The result suggested that the AC possessed of mesoporous structure. BET surface area, total pore volume and pore diameters of the AC prepared from optimum condition were 1329.5 m2/g, 1.16 cm3/g and 3.8 nm respectively. © 2016 Author(s).
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