Title: Preparation of activated carbon from paper mill sludge waste activated by superheated steam

Authors: Yeow Wen Feng; Halimatun Sakdiah Zainuddin; Nordin Sabli; Hiroyuki Yoshida; Shamsul Izhar

Addresses: Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: Activated carbon was produced by treating dehydrated paper pulp with superheated steam in a rotary kiln. The activated carbon was analysed for its physical properties and adsorption capacity in relation to the activation temperatures. Carbonisation was conducted at 400°C, followed by activation between 600-900°C for 1 h. Methylene blue was used to evaluate the adsorption performance. The activated carbon activated at 700°C exhibited 96% adsorption performance. The performance was attributed to the promoted pore development that prevented unnecessary burning by excluding oxygen. As a result, activated carbon with a high BET surface area (130 m²/g) and the presence of O-containing functional groups were confirmed by FTIR analysis. Thus, activation processes via superheated steam enhanced activated carbon physicochemical properties, making steam an excellent method to produce a promising adsorbent for utilising paper pulp.

Keywords: superheated steam; paper-pulp waste; activated carbon; methylene blue adsorption; BET surface area; O-containing functional group by FTIR.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNBM.2025.146477

International Journal of Nano and Biomaterials, 2025 Vol.11 No.1, pp.59 - 74

Received: 30 Jan 2024
Accepted: 14 Jun 2024
Published online: 30 May 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article