TEXTURAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISATION OF ACTIVATED CARBONS PREPARED FROM RICE HUSK (ORYZA SATIVA) USING A TWO- STAGE ACTIVATION PROCESS

Activated carbons from agro-industrial wastes; rice husk; were prepared byphysical and chemical activation using phosphoric acid as the dehydrating agent.A two-stage activation process method was used; with semi-carbonisation stage at200oC for 15 minutes as the first stage followed by an activation stage at 500oCfor 45 minutes as the second stage. The precursor material with the impregnationagent was exposed straightaway to semi-carbonization and activation temperatureunlike the specific temperature progression as reported in the literature. Allexperiments were conducted in a laboratory scale muffle furnace under staticconditions in a self generated atmosphere covering process parameters such asimpregnation ratios. We found that by using this method, the AC5 had the highestiodine number and methylene blue adsorption capacity which was 506.6 mg/g and319.0 mg/g respectively.