Cleaner production of carbon adsorbents by utilizing agricultural waste corn cob

In the present study, the porous carbon products from agricultural waste corn cob were manufactured by using the combined activation methods. Under the experimental conditions in the activation temperature ranges of 500–800°C with less pollution characteristics of potassium hydroxide/potassium carbonate (KOH/K 2CO 3) as chemical agents and subsequent gasification (i.e. physical activation) at the soaking time of 1 h, the influence of activation temperature on the final products was studied by examining their physical characterizations such as BET surface area, total pore volume and true density. The experimental results show that an elevated temperature is favorable for producing carbon products with high surface area and total pore volume. Also, the values of the true density and the porosity increase with increase in the activation temperature. Comparing the results of physical characterizations of the carbon products with those of commercial activated carbons indicates that the activated carbons prepared from agricultural waste corn cob by using a cleaner process is an available route for the biomass utilization and bioresource recycling. The high-surface-area carbon products thus obtained are very promising adsorbents for pollution control and for other applications.