The effects of a microwave heating method on the production of activated carbon from agricultural waste: A review

Published Date
Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
March 2013, Vol.100:1–11, doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2012.12.019
Review

Author 

• Roozbeh Hoseinzadeh Hesas ^a,
 
• Wan Mohd Ashri Wan Daud ^a,,
 
• J.N. Sahu ^a,b,
 
• Arash Arami-Niya ^a,

• aDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
• bDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), P.O. Kharagpur Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India

Received 13 April 2012. Accepted 14 December 2012. Available online 24 December 2012. 

Abstract

A review of the effect of a microwave treatment on the production of activated carbon (AC) from agricultural waste is presented in this study. Although the thermal heating method is one of the most usual and applicable methods for the production of AC, this method has some disadvantages such as a thermal gradient from the surface to the interior of a particle, high cost of heating, long preparation time and fast firing. A microwave radiation method has been used recently by many researchers as an alternative method for heating. In this review, these two different methods of producing AC were compared. Previous studies on the preparation of AC using a microwave radiation method showed that the more significant parameters are the microwave radiation time, the microwave power level, the impregnation ratio and the agent flow rate. Accordingly, in this review, the effects of these parameters on the physical and chemical properties of AC, such as the pore structure, the adsorption capacity, the carbon yield and the surface functional groups, were discussed. In general, the physical properties of AC (adsorption capacity, pore volume and carbon yield) improved when these parameters were enhanced up to their optimum points, and then these properties decreased when these parameters were increased beyond their optimum values. The carbon/oxygen ratio was increased by the microwave method due to the elimination of acidic oxygen-containing functional groups on the surfaces of the ACs.

Highlights

► A comparison between microwave and thermal heating methods. ► Study the significant parameters in producing activated carbon (AC) by using microwave radiation. ► Study the effects of microwave-induced method on the properties of AC. ► Review the effects of the microwave-induced method on carbon yield.

Keywords

Activated carbon

Agricultural waste

Microwave heating

Pore structure

Functional groups

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