PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON DERIVED FROM ORANGE PEELS

Activated carbon refers to a highly porous carbonaceous material that is widely used for various applications such as water and air purification, as well as in wastewater treatment and catalysts. It has a large surface area and pore volume, making it effective for adsorbing a wide range of pollutants. The high accumulation of waste into water bodies has brought about a high demand for activated carbon. This study explores the preparation and characterization of activated carbon derived from orange peel waste, a sustainable and eco-friendly approach with low-cost materials as an alternative for the commercially available activated carbon. Orange Peel was prepared by chemical activation with 0.3M Orthophosphoric acid (H3PO4) and was carbonized in a muffle furnace until a char was formed. The char was washed with distilled water to obtain a neutral pH (7). The washed char was dried in an oven at 1050C until a constant weight was obtained. The activated carbon prepared was then used for characterization studies. The surface chemical properties of the prepared activated carbon were characterized with several methods including FTIR spectra, EDX and SEM analysis. The existence of hydroxyl, carbonyl, amines, aromatics, and other functional groups which are excellent for adsorption was revealed by FTIR analysis for the orange peel activated carbon (OPAC). There are shifts in the adsorption spectra as the bands were observed at different peaks. The peak range observed at 3107.2–3490.7 cm-1 was assigned to O-H stretch, and a C-H stretch was seen at 2583.2–2592.3 cm-1. The band observed at 1777.1–1850.1 cm-1 corresponds to a stretch of C=O band. The band assigned to 1551.7–1552.9 cm-1 is of a C=C stretch while the peak range 1268.7–1372.9 cm-1 was attributed to C-H bend. The changes in FTIR spectra confirmed the effect of acid modification of orange peel. Elemental analysis of both raw and activated orange peel was investigated by EDX to quantitatively determine the element(s) presents in both samples. The elemental composition in both samples and their corresponding percentage per weight was obtained and an increase in the weight percentage by atom of carbon was observed in activated orange peel (11.40%) compared to that of the raw orange peel (5.20%). This shows that the activated orange peel sample is carbonaceous in composition which makes it an efficient activated carbon. The SEM analysis of the activated orange peel possesses a high surface area with numerous pores that are widely opened to increase the adsorption capacity of the adsorbent. This is as a result of the acid modification, which enhances bond cleavage in the orange peel. This research has shown that the agricultural waste (Orange Peel) employed in the study is a good precursor for the production of a low-cost activated carbons, thus resolving the problem of agro-waste disposal and contributing to the development of sustainable materials from agricultural wastes. It also suggests that OPAC is a promising low-cost adsorbent for environmental remediation applications, including waste water treatment and air pollution control.