Investigate the effects of synthesizing techniques on the particle size reduction and thermal behaviors of carbon-based material from natural wood charcoal

Abstract

In this research work, a novel investigation of the carbon-based material from natural wood charcoal synthesized with various top-down techniques on the particle size reduction and thermal behaviors. First, three powder samples were synthesized using manually by hand. Second, two powder samples were synthesized using ball milling. The particle size (length and width) were analysed using SEM micrographs. Furthermore, the thermal characterization had been carried out using thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that the length and width of the ball milled sample are smaller than the manually milled samples (53, 74 and 105 μm) due to the higher energy mill between the ball mill and the charcoal powder. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the samples takes places in four steps of decomposition. First stage occurred at 49.9-50°C, second at 72.58-83.69 °C, third at 268-319 °C and fourth at 689-738 °C. The ball milled samples exhibited the lower weight loss total (23.3 and 59.12%) than the manually milled samples (29.58, 34.9 and 36.39%) which is affected by the chemical composition (lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose) and inorganic substances present in the samples. As a conclusion, the ball milling gave the optimum results in terms of particle size reduction and thermal behaviors.