Effect of different activation agents for activated carbon preparation through characterization and life cycle assessment

This work aims to assess activated carbon (AC) production from Quercus Alba and evaluate the environmental impacts of the process using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The structural and optical properties of AC derived from Quercus Alba using four chemical activation agents, namely H₃PO₄, KOH, FeCl₃, and ZnCl₂, were examined. The carbon content of Quercus Alba highly increased up to 73% when KOH was used as an activator. The results showed that among the ACs examined in this study, the one activated by H₃PO₄ had the highest surface area. The LCA method is designed to estimate certain major environmental consequences that occur during the activation phase. SimaPro 8.2 LCA software was used and the CML 2 baseline 2000 approach was used for environmental impact assessment. The use of power in laboratory steps was the most damaging to the environment. Moreover, the AC sample produced using KOH had the biggest ecological footprint in most effect categories. Further, the most relevant environmental effect category was marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial acidification. Global warming potential had also a high impact which was 3.12 kg CO₂ eq for AC by ZnCl₂. The chemical activation agents played a substantial role in the environmental implications of activated carbon production. By combining the laboratory-scale production of AC from Quercus Alba with a direct assessment of its environmental impact, it could be concluded that Quercus Alba could be a viable material for AC from an economic and environmental perspective by using a suitable activation agent.