The production of active carbon from corn cobs by chemical activation

Corn cobs obtained as waste from the corn industry, were analyzed by a TG-DTA unit in an atmosphere of flowing nitrogen. The carbonaceous products so formed were then produced on a preparative scale and activated chemically using potassium hydroxide. This resulted in the formation of a carbon with a very high surface area. The active carbon produced was then examined using thermal analysis in the temperature jump mode on a thermogravimetry unit. From this data the kinetics of degradation of the active carbon was determined using zero order rate kinetics. The pore structure of the active material was also examined using SEM. TheE_a for activated corn cobs was found to be 106 kJ mol_–1.