Study on preparation of activated carbon from cotton stalk by chemical activation with zinc chloride

Activated carbon was prepared from cotton stalk by chemical activation with zinc chloride under different operation conditions.The influence of operation parameters such as impregnation ratio,activation temperature and time on the properties of activated carbon were discussed by measuring the relative surface area of activated carbon and its adsorption capacity for iodine and methylene blue.The experimental results show that the optimum conditions are as follows:the impregnation ratio of 1.5︰1,the activation temperature of 550 ℃,and the activation time of 90 minutes.The properties of the activated carbon prepared under the optimum conditions are the relative surface area of 1 403 m2/g,the iodine adsorption capability of 1 188 mg/g,and the methylene blue adsorption capability of 238 mg/g.