Production of activated carbon and fungicidal oil from peach stone by two-stage process

In this study, the production of activated carbons from peach stone with zinc chloride activation was investigated by means of a two-stage process: precarbonization and chemical activation. Precarbonization was performed at two different temperatures 300 °C and 400 °C in order to obtain the bio-oil. Then the activation of precarbonized chars after impregnation with zinc chloride was carried out. The activation temperatures varied from 500 °C to 700 °C to determine the optimal processing conditions. For comparison, traditional chemical activation was also performed. In two-stage process, the precarbonization temperature had important effect on the surface area of activated carbon as well as activation temperature. The surface area of activated carbons obtained from the two-stage process was lower than that those from the one-stage process. The bio-oil obtained from precarbonization step showed fungicidal activity against fungi Coriolus versicolor. The adsorption capacities of activated carbons for phenol and methylene blue were found to be in the range of 51.6–64.9 mg g−1 and 104.2–121.9 mg g−1, respectively.