Development of low-cost desiccant systems from biomass-based carbonaceous materials

Part 1 Water vapor adsorption of activated carbon prepared from Japanese Acorn nutshell

Abstract

Producing activated carbon (AC) with favorable properties using conventional physical activation from local biomass and understanding its water vapor adsorption behavior is essential to find renewable and low-cost material for dehumidification application. In this study, AC was prepared from Japanese Acorn Nutshell (JAN) under different preparation conditions. The prepared activated carbons were used to adsorb water vapor under diverse humidity range. The experimental results showed that Japanese Acorn Nutshell is suitable to be used as a precursor of activated carbon. The activated carbons produced in this study have the surface area up to 864 m²/g. On the other hand, water vapor adsorption isotherms on all prepared materials are following type V with steep uptake between P/Po of 0.4 to 0.6. From the water sorption isotherm data, the prepared activated carbon shows a promising ability to be used as a desiccant material.