Development of activated carbon products by the utilization of locally bioresource coconut shell

Development of activated carbon products by the utilization of locally bioresource coconut shell

Activated carbon is an amorphously porous material, which exhibit a high adsorption capacity due to its large specific surface area and pore volume. These unique pore structures play a very important role in many different liquid- and gas-phase applications for removal of organic pollutants. Although most types of industrial activated carbons are produced from naturally occurring carbonaceous materials like coal by activation process, some agro-industrial wastes or by-products have been found recently to be suitable precursors for the preparation of activated carbons owing to their characteristics of high carbon and low ash contents. In Southern Taiwan, coconut shell is the most primary agro-industrial waste or by-product. The yearly generation of the waste has exceeded ten thousands metric tons.