Investigation of carbon phase structure of corncob charcoal powder

The carbon phase of the corncob charcoal powders has been successfully investigated by heating at a temperature of 400 °C for 5 h. The samples were characterized to determine crystal structure, identify morphology and element content, and determine the type of compounds in the materials by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy- Electron Diffraction X-Ray (SEM-EDX), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), respectively. The analysis of XRD results was by using Match! Software to identify crystallinity degree and phase formed in each sample. The results of SEM- EDX were characterized by using ImageJ Software. The analysis results showed that the higher the heating temperature, the higher the crystallinity degree. The phase formed in the corncob charcoal powder indicated the Graphite phase that had crystal system and Pcca orthorhombic space group. In the sample heated at a temperature of 400 °C for 5 h (TJA400), the Carbon Graphite 2H phase formed had crystal system with R-3m rhombohedral space group, and the CCaO3 phase impurity had crystal system and R-3c trigonal space group. The results of SEM analysis showed that there was an agglomeration in the material morphology, but the dimension was formed, and the mean of the grain size was 25 nm. The EDX characterization obtained the highest carbon element of 67.99%. The FTIR analysis resulted in some functional groups in the form of corncob charcoal powders, namely C-O, C=C, =C-H, and O-H in a particular wavenumber.