The effects of activated carbon from palm shell for air filter

Abstract

Air pollution around the globe and the steadily deteriorating condition of indoor air quality (IAQ) are serious environmental and health issues in today’s world, as people tend to spend up to 90% of their lives indoors as part of their modern living habits. There is serious health concerns associated with poor IAQ, which include respiratory and chronic ailments. The use of activated carbon as filtering material in air cleaners has been greatly encouraged because of its higher adsorption capacity, though most of today’s commercial activated carbons are made from expensive sources of coal and oil. Therefore, there is a great need for affordable and sustainable materials. Palm shells, which are produced abundantly as agricultural waste in the palm oil industry in Malaysia, are promising materials for activated carbon synthesis. The focus of this research is to examine the ability of the produced activated carbon, which is derived using palm shells, based on its structural and chemical properties, in air filtration applications. Palm shells were carbonized using a pyrolysis technique with activation using Sodium Hydroxide as the chemical agent. The produced activated carbon was then characterized using the Scanning Electron Microscopy for the shape and structure, the FTIR for the functional groups, and the TGA for the thermal stability and decomposing process. The findings indicate that the carbonization temperature plays a significant role in determining the characteristics of the palm shell activated carbon. Analysis conducted using the SEM revealed that the activated carbon created from the 600°C activation procedure possessed a strong internal porous structure, while the activated carbon created from the 550°C procedure lacked pores and that from the 650°C procedure displayed enlarged pores. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of –O–H, C=C, and C–O functional groups, with the 600°C sample showing the most favorable surface functionality for adsorption. Furthermore, the TGA analysis illustrated that the activated carbon created from the higher-temperature procedures possessed better thermal stability.