Effect of activation temperature on pore development in activated carbon produced from palm shell

A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of activation temperature on pore development of activated carbon produced from palm shell. Activation of the samples was carried out at 800, 850 and 900 °C for different durations ranging from 10 to 180 min. The samples were characterized using N2 adsorption for evaluation of micropores and the mercury intrusion technique for mesopore and macropore analysis. Within the range of activation temperatures studied, high burn‐off products derived from high activation temperatures tend to have larger micropore development. However, an increase in the activation temperature has no remarkable effect on mesopore and macropore development. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry