Preparation of porous carbon as ethylene adsorbent by pyrolysis of extraction waste Mangosteen rinds

Abstract

Mangosteen rind is an important source of natural antioxidants. Due to the growing interest in extracting this anti cancer substances from the Mangosteen rind, the amount of this lignocellulosic residu has been generated significantly as byproduct. In this research, extraction-waste Mangosteen rind (EMP) was used as alternative precusor for production of carbon-based adsorbent for ethylene removal. Steam was used as activating agent and the effect of carbonization time and temperature on the development of pore structure were examined. Pyrolysis process was carried out by heating the Mangosteen rinds powder (180 μm - 355 μm) from ambient temperature up to carbonization temperature of 848 K and kept for 3 hours then followed by heating up to 1123 K and kept for 15 minutes under flowing N2 and steam. This process was repeated for several pyrolysis temperature (1053 K, 1073 K, 1083 K and 1103 K) and carbonization time (0 hours, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 3,5 hours). The carbon obtained was characterized in terms of its pore structure and ethylene uptake capacity. The results show that porous carbon obtained from pyrolysis of extraction-waste Mangosteen rind can be characterized as mesoporous carbon. The highest surface area of 1080 m2/g was obtained from pyrolysis of extraction-waste Mangosteen rinds with carbonization time of 3.5 hours and pyrolysis temperature of 1123 K. Furthermore, the mesopore portion and the specific surface area increased with the increasing carbonization time. From the ethylene uptake experiment, it was noted that the ethylene adsorption capacity of EMPC is 40.12 cm3/g.