Production of activated carbon from waste watemelon peel using microwave pyrolysis

Abstract

Activated carbon represents a porous carbon material with high surface area and porosity. Due to its characteristic of high level of adsorption capacity, it is used widely in many industrial applications such as water treatment, catalysis, fuel cells, and others. A large quantity of watermelon are produced every year in Malaysia which have led to the large quantities of fruit wastes generation and brought adverse impacts to the environment. The waste watermelon peel is normally used as cattle feed and fertilizer while the remaining quantity will be disposed through combustion or landfilling. Recently, pyrolysis is a promising technique to convert the agricultural waste into a useful material instead of discarded to the environment. This study is aimed to evaluate the feasibility of microwave pyrolysis process for the preparation of good quality of activated carbon from waste watermelon peel via chemical activation method. The influences of impregnation ratio on the adsorption capacity, carbon yield, BET surface area, porosity, and thermal stability of activated carbon were investigated. The impregnation ratio is found to have significant effect in producing good quality of activated carbon. It is because impregnation ratio is important for pores development on the activated carbon which in turns affects the adsorption capacity. Impregnation ratio from 100 wt% to 300 wt% were used in each sets of experiment to determine the effects on the quality of activated carbon. In conclusion, waste watermelon peel was anticipated to be a suitable raw material in producing high quality of activated carbon with high content of carbon, thermal stability, BET surface area, and porosity.