Process conditions for the manufacture of highly micro-mesoporous eco-friendly activated carbon from artocarpus integer bio-waste by steam activation.

Highlights • Highly micro-mesoporous eco-friendly activated carbon by steam activation. • Pore properties of Eco-ACs were greatly affected by steam-gasification temperature and duration. • Eco-ACs can be used for green separation technologies in industries. Abstract In this paper, for the first time, we report the process conditions to obtain highly micro-mesoporous eco-friendly activated carbon (Eco-AC) from Artocarpus integer bio-waste by steam activation. The proposed novel material provides a green alternative to existing chemically activated bio-wastes for the preparation of highly micro-mesoporous activated carbon. The influences of pyrolysis temperature and duration followed by steam-gasification temperature and duration on the pore structure and yield of Eco-ACs were explored in this study. The prepared Eco-ACs had been characterized by N 2 adsorption-desorption analysis and FESEM. Based on our experimental results, the optimum technology conditions for preparing highly micro-mesoporous Eco-AC are: pyrolysis temperature, 700°C; pyrolysis duration, 60 min; steam-gasification temperature, 750°C; and steam-gasification duration, 60 min. The optimal Eco-AC has a BET surface area of 852.63 m²/g, Langmuir surface area of 964.79 m²/g, t-plot micropore surface area of 506.03 m²/g, t-plot mesopore surface area of 346.60 m²/g, total pore volume of 0.632 cm³/g, BET average pore diameter of 2.967 nm and BJH average pore diameter of 5.489 nm with a reasonable yield, 33.5%, making it a promising economical and eco-friendly carbon material for use in environmental separation technologies and water treatment. Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]