Preparation and characterization of oil palm shell activated carbon by alkali chemical activation method

As an excellent and versatile adsorbent, activated carbon is widely used for a number of applications on an industrial sector due to its numerous unique characteristics. Nowadays, inexpensive and effective alternatives to the existing commercial activated carbon have been a focus of many studies. Oil palm shell is one of the potential precursor materials for activated carbon production due to its high carbon content. Among the chemical activation agents commonly used in the activation process, alkaline hydroxides have recently been a great interest since the production of highly developed porosity activated carbons. In this study, oil palm activated carbon was prepared by NaOH impregnation and followed by carbonization at temperatures of 400°C and 500°C. The oil palm shell was impregnated with 1% of NaOH solution for 24 hours at room temperature. The filtration residue was then oven dried at 60°C for five hour. The dried oil palm shell was then crushed, grinded and subjected to the pyrolysis apparatus. The pyrolysis was conducted at two different temperatures, i.e. 400°C and 500°C for five hours. The activated carbon was then analyzed based on Indonesia’s industrial standard for activated carbon. The research showed that the yield of activated carbon decreases with the increasing of the carbonization temperature due to the loss of most of the volatile matter at a higher temperature. Furthermore, it showed that the moisture content, ash content, and Iod number fulfill the Indonesian Industrial Standard (SII no. 0258-79). Meanwhile, the volatile matter content and the fixed carbon content are out of the SII criteria.