STUDI AWAL PENGAKTIFAN KARBON MENGGUNAKAN RADIASI GELOMBANG MIKRO SEBAGAI BAHAN PENYERAP DARI KAYU EUCALYPTUS

Abstract

Activated Carbon (AC) has been successfully made from Eucalyptus wood by using conventional carbonization and chemical activation supported by microwave radiation. The weight ratio of carbon:potassium hydroxide is 1:0.5 and the power of microwave at 720 Watt with variation of irradiation time is of 10, 20, 30 and 40 minutes respectively. The microwave-induced potassium hydroxide activation affects the physical properties of AC. The yield of AC showed decreased with increasing time of irradiation. The microwave irradiation of 20 minutes resulted the higher iodine number. The pattern of X-ray diffraction showed that the AC has a turbostratic structure by the presence of diffraction peaks of (002) and (001). The BET surface area of AC for the irrradiation of 20 minutes and 40 minutes are 196.42 and 2.40 respectively.