A discussion about the effect of chemical treatment on the preparation of PET based activated carbon

The aim of this article is to make a more in-depth study on the preparation of high porous activated carbon from granulated post-consumer PET using chemical activation, which comprises heat treatment of PET impregnated with phosphoric acid. The effect of activation time, activation temperature, impregnation coefficient in the activation process is under investigation in order to optimize these parameters. Impregnation coefficient is the most important parameter in chemical activation of crushed PET. Activation temperature is another variable which has a significant effect on the pore volume evolution. The increasing of activation temperature enhances the surface area and pore volume of activated carbon but the yield of final product is the factor limiting the activation temperature. On the other hand, carbon becomes less reactive with increasing activation time.

Keywords:

Polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) , activated carbon , chemical treatment , activation