Production of activated carbon from rubber wood sawdust using microwave processing for removal of textile dye effluent

The production of activated carbon using heat from microwave processing for activation time was successfully conducted and its performance in treating textile dye effluent was observed through various factors such as phosphoric acid loading used, contact time, dosage of activated carbon and pH. Activated carbon with phosphoric acid loading of 60% shown highest BET surface area that was 213.52 m2/g however, it obtained least thermal stability. The result indicated that about 97.11% of dye from textile effluent can be removed in only 90 minutes of contact time at pH 3 with the use of 2.0 g of produced activated carbon. The production of activated carbon using microwave processing can be an alternative way for activation process using conventional furnace heating. The used of rubber wood sawdust as the raw material for activated carbon production can solve the waste issue from sawmill as an example.