Preparation of activated carbon from kenaf fiber and rubber wood sawdust produced by microwave processing

Heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) are widely used for production of textile industry. Textile pollutants are being released to the environment consequently highly polluted and it is necessary that the pollutants are treated before discharge using activated carbon such as kenaf core fiber (KCF) and rubber wood sawdust (RWS). The feasibility of KCF and RWS for preparation of activated carbon by microwave induced activation process using phosphoric acid as the activating agent was explored. The activation step was performed at the microwave input power of 500 W and irradiation time of 6 min. Microwave heating was employed for activation, and thereby considerably reduced the activation time. The yield and weight loss after the heating was studied. The activated carbon was then used as adsorbent for the removal of cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) from textile waste water. The adsorption of Cd and Pb using KCF and RWS has been studied using UV spectrometer to estimate metal analysis. The effect of various parameters like amount of activated carbon used and contact time also were studied. The use of KCF and RWS as a low cost activated carbon produce by microwave method at short period was investigated. From the result obtained, the percentage weight loss was increase for KCF and RWS and for percentage yield after microwave heating was decrease for both samples. The percentage removal for Cd and Pb was increased for both effect of contact time and amount of activated carbon used.