Activated carbon synthesis from tangerine peel and its use in hydrogen storage

Abstract

Activated carbon samples were synthesized by chemical and physical activations of tangerine peel. The activated carbons were characterized via using Fourier Transform Infrared-Attenuated Total Reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Differential Thermal Analysis-Thermogravimetry (DTA/TG) techniques. It was found that the activated carbon samples were porous, and their surface areas were increased by treating with the various concentrations of ZnCl2 and KOH. After the formation of activated carbons, they turned into a structure that was formed from carbon atoms, and their residual amounts decreased. In addition, the hydrogen storage capacities of the activated carbon samples were measured in different pressures at 77 and 298 K using the Hiden IMI PSI instrument. The results, confirmed that the hydrogen storage capacities of the activated carbons were higher at the cryogenic temperatures, and higher hydrogen storage capacity were observed by the increasing concentrations of activation agents in the synthesized activated carbons. The activated carbons synthesized by ZnCl2 had higher hydrogen storage capacity than those by KOH.