Production of activated carbon from the waste paper by chemical activation method

Abstract

The cellulose and paper industry accounts for a large part of the circular economy. The need for activated carbons is gradually increasing, especially in the environmental and energy fields. In this study, the production of activated carbon from waste papers was carried out with the help of the chemical activation method and activation agents (phosphoric acid and zinc chloride). The parameters used in the experiments and analyzed were kept constant for all activated carbons. The density values of activated carbon were analyzed more than once in each sample with a helium-gas pycnometer device. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to detect functional groups in the structure of activated carbon, and a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used to study surface properties and porosity development. The distributions of activated carbons and their elemental analysis were examined by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and Mapping analyses. When the results obtained from the activated carbons produced from waste paper in the study were compared with commercial activated carbon, it was observed that the waste paper had a better surface and pore structure than commercial activated carbon for the production of activated carbon, and the activation process was successfully performed.