Validation of Adsorption Efficiency of Activated Carbons through Surface Morphological Characterization Using Scanning Electron Microscopy Technique

The studies on activated carbon prepared from walnut shell and groundnut shell were undertaken to ascertain the effect of initial state of precursor and activation process on the development of porosity in the resulting activated carbon. Walnut shell based carbon shows the presence of cellular pores while Groundnut shell based carbon shows fibrillar pore structure. The adsorption parameters, characterization of product and scanning electron microscopic studies carried out showed the presence of mainly Micro, Meso and Macro porosity in carbon prepared from Walnut shell while mainly micro porosity was observed in Groundnut shell based activated carbon. An interrelationship between the adsorption efficiency and porosity in terms of quality control parameters, for before and after activation, was validated through the scanning electron microscopic data.