Preparation of activated carbon from jujube kernel by microwave-induced method

Making use of jujube kernel as the main material, jujube kernel activated carbon was prepared with a microwave-induced activation process using phosphoric acid and zinc chloride as the activating agent. The effects of various factors such as microwave power, radiation time, activation agent/ carbon ratio and activation agent concentration on the activation have been studied. Experimental results indicated that the optimum conditions for phosphoric acid as activation agent by microwave-induced were as follows: microwave power 600W, radiation time 15 min, phosphoric acid concentration 50% and phosphoric acid/carbon ratio 1.2:1, under the condition, the yield, MA and IA were 32.6%, 230.5 mL/g and 1361.3 mg/L, respectively. the optimum conditions for zinc chloride as activation agent by microwave-induced were as follows: microwave power 600W, radiation time 20 min, zinc chloride concentration 60% and zinc chloride /carbon ratio 1.2:1, under the condition, the yield, MA and IA were 34.6%, 236.4mL/g and 1347.2 mg/L, respectively. Comparisons of the two method demonstrated that they all are suitable method for preparation of activated carbon with jujube kernel.