Effects of zinc chloride impregnation states on specific surface and dielectric properties of activated carbons

Abstract

The present work was aimed at evaluating the roles of zinc chloride impregnation states on specific surface and dielectric properties in microwave-assisted activated carbon preparation. Activated carbons were synthesized using castor shell at dry impregnation ratios of 1 and 2 (material-to-activator), and in suspensions of distilled water and zinc chloride, at power intensity of 800 W and irradiation time of 5 min. The activated carbons exhibit an improvement in dielectric properties and specific surface with increasing impregnation ratio. Palm kernel shell was employed for comparison to verify the effect of power intensity. At 800 W, the magnitudes of surface area are 1684 m2/g and 1150 m2/g for castor shell- and palm kernel shell-based activated carbons, respectively. A high specific surface brings about a greater methylene blue adsorption for possible applications in wastewater treatment.