Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from date pits by chemical activation with zinc chloride for methyl orange adsorption

Natural material such as date pits have been used as precursor for activated carbon, using zinc chloride as activating agent. The effect of preparation conditions on the produced activated carbon characteristics as an adsorbent was investigated. The performance of the synthesized carbon was characterized by N2 adsorption– desorption isotherms, BET equations, SEM and FTIR. The optimum conditions for carbon preparation are as follows: activation temperature, 400°C; activation time, 2 hours; mass ratio of activating agent is about 2:1. The specific surface area attains 1380 m 2 /g and the pore volume is 0.91 cm 3 /g. The pore structure of the activated carbon is mainly composed of micropore the ratio is of order of 50%. The surfaces of carbon are dominated by the carbonyl and hydroxyl group. The activated carbon was utilized as adsorbent to remove methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solutions. Batch experiments were conducted to study the effects pH, contact time and initial MO concentration on the adsorption capacity. The equilibrium experimental data were fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The better fit was showed with the Langmuir isotherm equilibrium model.