Utilization of Municipal Organic Solid Waste for Production of Activated Carbon in Saudi Arabia

In this research, mesoporous activated carbon (AC) was produced from municipal organic solid waste, where chemical activation with H ₃PO ₄ as the activating agent was employed. Effects of various parameters, such as activation temperature, concentrations of H ₃PO ₄, and activation time, on the characteristics of the produced AC were investigated. Moreover, adsorption performance of the produced AC under different conditions of activation was evaluated using methylene blue and heavy metals as the adsorbates. The produced AC was characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The results revealed that characteristics of the produced AC were highly influenced by activation temperature and concentration of H ₃PO ₄, whereas activation time has insignificant effect. At optimum activation conditions of activation temperature (700 ^∘C), activation duration (2 h) and H ₃PO ₄ concentration (30%), the results showed that BET surface area, AC yield and MB removal efficiency were 792.93 m ²/ g , 32 and 100%, respectively. Moreover, removal efficiencies of Cd ^{2 +} and Pb ^{2 +} were 55 and 64%, respectively.