Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

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Applied Surface Science

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Preparation and surface characterization of activated carbons from Euphorbia

rigida by chemical activation with ZnCl2 , K2 CO3 , NaOH and H3 PO4
Murat Klc, Esin Apaydn-Varol, Ayse Eren Ptn
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Anadolu University, Eskisehir 26480, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 20 February 2012
Received in revised form 17 July 2012
Accepted 30 July 2012
Available online 4 August 2012
Keywords:
Activated carbon
Chemical activation
Characterization
Euphorbia rigida

a b s t r a c t
Preparation of activated carbons from Euphorbia rigida by chemical activation with different impregnation
agents and ratios was studied. ZnCl2 , K2 CO3 , NaOH and H3 PO4 were used as chemical activation agents
and four impregnation ratios (255075100%) by mass were applied on biomass. Activation is applied
to impregnated biomass samples at 700 C under sweeping gas in a xed bed reactor. For determination
of chemical and physical properties of the obtained activated carbons; elemental analysis was applied to
determine the elemental composition (C, H, N, O) and FT-IR spectra was used to analyze the functional
groups. BET equation was used to calculate the surface areas of activated carbons. For understanding
the changes in the surface structure, activated carbons were conducted to Scanning Electron Microscopy
(SEM). Maximum BET surface area (2613 m2 /g) was reached with 75% K2 CO3 impregnated biomass sample. Experimental results showed that impregnation types and ratios have a signicant effect on the pore
structure of activated carbon and E. rigida seems to be an alternative precursor for commercial activated
carbon production.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Activated carbon, an adsorbent with its large porous surface area, controllable pore structure, thermo-stability and low
acid/base reactivity is currently receiving great attention, owning
to its superior and efcient ability in air pollution control, solvent
recovery, food processing, chemical and pharmaceutical industries,
wastewater treatment (dyes, heavy metals, detergents, herbicides,
pesticides and polyaromatic hydrocarbons), metal recovery, catalysis as well as in improving odor and taste [1].
Production of activated carbon can either be through physical or
chemical activation. The nature of the precursor, activation method,
and activation conditions determined the characteristics of porosity in activated carbons, including pore size distribution, shapes
of the pores, and surface chemistry [2]. Physical activation is a
two-step process [3]. The material is carbonized under inert atmosphere and then activated at high temperature using either steam
or carbon dioxide as the activating reagent to produce more porous
structures [4]. In chemical activation, raw material is impregnated
with an activation reagent and heated in an inert atmosphere. The
carbonization step and the activation step proceed simultaneously.
By dehydration and oxidation reactions of the chemicals, pores
are developed. Produced char then washed to rid it from residual

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 222 335 0580x6504; fax: +90 222 323 9501.
E-mail address: aeputun@anadolu.edu.tr (A.E. Ptn).
0169-4332/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2012.07.155

impurities [3]. The advantages of chemical activation are: its low

energy and operating cost, higher carbon yields and large surface
areas when compared with physical activation. Chemical activation
also has better development of porous structure [4,5]. Knowledge of
different variables during the activation process is very important
in developing porosity of carbon which is sought for given applications. Chemical activation is held in the presence of dehydrating
reagents such as KOH [6], K2 CO3 [7], NaOH [8], ZnCl2 [9], H3 PO4
[10] and H2 SO4 [11] which inuence pyrolytic decomposition and
inhibit tar formation [12]. These reagents can improve the pore
distribution and increase the surface area of adsorbents [13].
Activated carbons are produced from a variety of carbonaceous
materials. The choice of precursor largely depends on its availability, cost, and purity, but the manufacturing process and intended
application of the product are also important considerations [5].
Therefore evaluation of biomass is getting increased attention all
over the world as it is renewable, widely available, cheap, and environmental friendly [14]. There are a number of biomass sources,
such as forest residues, low grade plants, agricultural residues and
municipal solid wastes, which can be utilized for activated carbon precursor. One of them is Euphorbia rigida (E. rigida), a large
genus of the Euphorbiaceae, a family of laticiferous herbs, shrubs
and small trees, distributed in the tropical and warm temperature
regions of the world. Many of the species are succulent and inhabit
dry places. About 2000 species have been reported throughout the
world, chiey in tropical regions. It is known that 80 species of
Euphorbia are found in Turkey [15]. In Turkey E. rigida grows on the

M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

arid lands of Middle Anatolia in abundant quantities and without

any requirement of special labor, this has made this plant attractive
as a new source [16].
The aim of the present work is to produce high surface area activated carbon from E. rigida by chemical activation using different
impregnation agents and ratios. The inuence of different impregnation agents and ratios on surface chemistry was determined
using instrumental methods such as elemental analysis, FT-IR, BET
and SEM.

35

AC_Z
AC_H
AC_N
AC_K

30
25
Yield (%)

248

20
15
10
5

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Precursor preparation

25

50

75

100

Impregnaon rao (%)

E. rigida was collected from southwest Anatolia. It was harvested

between May and July, dried at room temperature. Drying was
timed up to obtaining a constant weight. After drying raw material was ground in a high-speed rotary cutting mill and stored in a
cool and dark room. Bulk density of 243 m3 /kg and a particle size
in the range from 0.425 to 1.80 mm was used for preparation of
activated carbon.
2.2. Activation method
Raw material was directly impregnated with chemical activation agents. Ground and sieved E. rigida were treated with ZnCl2 ,
K2 CO3 , NaOH and H3 PO4 solutions at room temperature in four different weight ratios as 255075100%. Continuous mixing of the
precursor with chemicals for 24 h was maintained by using a magnetic stirrer. After mixing, solutions were allowed to dry at room
temperature for 24 h and then dried at 85 C for 72 h in a temperature controlled oven to prepare impregnated samples. After this
period, impregnated samples were ready for the carbonization and
activation which were carried out simultaneously.
Impregnated samples than carbonized in a stainless steel xed
bed reactor at 700 C under nitrogen (N2 ) ow of 100 cm3 /min and
at a heating rate of 10 C/min and held at this temperature for 1 h.
After being cooled, all the carbonized samples were washed several
times with hot water until pH became neutral and nally washed
with cold water to remove residual chemicals. Washed samples
were dried at 105 C for 24 h to obtain the nal activated carbons.
The samples and activated carbons were classied as ER Z, ER K,
ER N, ER H, and AC Z, AC K, AC N, AC H. The rst two characters,
ER, represent E. rigida, and AC, represents activated carbons, the
third characters, Z, K, N and H, represents ZnCl2 , K2 CO3 , NaOH and
H3 PO4 impregnation, respectively.
2.3. Characterization of impregnated samples and activated
carbons
Yield is usually dened as nal weight of activated carbon
produced after activation, washing, and drying, divided by initial
weight of raw material; both on a dry basis. The following relationship is used for calculating the yield of activated carbons:
Yield (%) =

Wac
100
Wi

(1)

where Wi is mass of impregnated sample and Wac is mass of the

dried carbon after washing [5,7].
Surface areas of each activated carbon were calculated from
N2 adsorption isotherms by using BET (BrunauerEmmettTeller)
method with Quantachrome Autosorb 1 analyzer. The adsorption
data of the total pore volume (Vtotal ) were determined from the
amount of nitrogen adsorbed at a relative pressure of 0.995 and
calculated with the manufacturers software. The same adsorption
data were also used for calculation of the micropore volume by

Fig. 1. Effect of impregnation type and ratio on the yield of activated carbons.

the t-plot method. The mesopore volume (Vmeso ) was calculated by

subtracting Vmicro from Vtotal (Vmeso = Vtotal Vmicro ).
The activated carbons were analyzed for carbon, nitrogen,
hydrogen and oxygen (by difference) contents using Carlo Erba EA
1108 elemental analyzer. A qualitative analysis of activated carbons
was conducted by FT-IR transmission spectra using Bruker Tensor
27 analyzer in wave number range of 4000400 cm1 . The samples
were well mixed with potassium bromide at a ratio of 1:99 and the
mixture was pressed into pellets to be used in the analysis.
SEM images were recorded by using Zeiss EVO 50 Scanning Electron Microscope. Samples were placed on carbon bands and coated
with a thin layer of goldpalladium in an argon atmosphere using
Agar Sputter Coater.
3. Results and discussions
Table 1 shows the ultimate and proximate analysis results of
precursor. A high carbon and low ash content of E. rigida indicates that the precursor is suitable for activated carbon production.
Fig. 1 shows the yields of the activated carbons obtained using different chemical agents and ratios. The yields of activated carbons
were in the range of 29.517.8% for ZnCl2 , 13.39.7% for K2 CO3 ,
13.44.1% for NaOH, and 29.016.8% for H3 PO4 impregnated samples. It is shown that yield of carbon decreases as the impregnation
ratio increases, because of promoting the gasication of char and
increasing the total weight by excess chemicals. Granular activated
carbons were obtained by activation of ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 impregnated samples and powdered activated carbons were obtained by
activation of K2 CO3 and NaOH impregnated samples.
Adsorption behavior and pore structure of activated carbons can
be analyzed by using Nitrogen adsorption isotherms. General properties of activated carbons can be explained by the shape of these
isotherms. Fig. 2 shows the N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms of
Table 1
Proximate and ultimate analyses (wt.%) of E. rigida (as received).
Proximate analysis (%)
Moisture
Ash
Volatiles
Fixed C

3.0
6.4
76.8
13.8

Ultimate analysis (%)

C
H
N
Oa
H/C
O/C
HHV (MJ/kg)

49.56
5.16
1.20
44.08
1.24
0.67
16.26

By difference.

M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

249

Fig. 2. N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms of activated carbons.

Table 2
BET surface areas of obtained activated carbons.
Chemical reagent

ZnCl2

Impregnation ratio (%)

Surface area (m2 /g)

25
123

K2 CO3
50
582

75
1115

100
845

25
785

NaOH
50
1338

obtained activated carbons. In Fig. 2 activated carbons produced

with different types of activated agents were compared in terms of
uptake amounts. It can be seen that K2 CO3 activation increased
amount of micropores signicantly. Because in the low relative
pressure region, high nitrogen uptakes were observed and the
slopes of all curves decreased with increasing relative pressures.
Besides, hysteresis loops in all samples indicate the presence of
mesopores.
BET surface area of activated carbon is important because, like
other physical and chemical characteristics, it may strongly affect
the reactivity and combustion behavior. The higher surface areas
are probably due to the opening of the restricted pores [3]. BET
surface area of E. rigida was found to be about 3.7 m2 /g and surface areas of activated carbons are shown in Table 2. It can be
seen that surface area increases with impregnation ratio. The highest surface area (2613 m2 /g) was obtained with K2 CO3 having 75%
impregnation ratio which is relatively high surface area for an
activated carbon. While considering the ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 impregnations, 75% impregnated sample gave the highest surface area of
1115 m2 /g and 100% impregnated sample gave the highest surface area of 790 m2 /g, respectively. It was observed that NaOH
had no signicant effect on producing high surface area activated
carbons.
Porous structure of activated carbons contains a wide range
of pore sizes. For practical reasons, they are classied into three

75
2613

100
1804

25
105

H3 PO4
50
176

75
223

100
396

25
188

50
260

75
536

100
790

groups; micropores (pore size smaller than 2 nm), mesopores (pore

size up to 50 nm), and macropores (pore size larger than 50 nm) by
the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) [2].
The effect of different impregnation agents and ratios on total pore
volume, micropore volume and micropore area for the activated
carbons with the highest surface areas are given in Table 3. It was
seen that, microporous structure is well developed for the activated
carbon produced by K2 CO3 activation with increasing impregnation ratio up to 75%. The optimum impregnation ratio to get higher
surface area and pore volume for both K2 CO3 and ZnCl2 was determined as 75%, where the highest surface area of 2613 m2 /g and
1115 m2 /g with a pore volume of 1.661 cm3 /g and 0.640 cm3/ g were
obtained with K2 CO3 and ZnCl2 impregnated samples, respectively.
NaOH activation had not a signicant effect on pore formation. The
highest surface area (396 m2 /g) and pore volume (0.202 cm3 /g) was
obtained at 100% NaOH impregnated sample which is insufcient
to evaluate it as an activated carbon. The characteristics of activated
carbon obtained by H3 PO4 impregnated sample seems to get closer
to the characteristics of commercial activated carbons. Increasing
the impregnation ratio will lead a higher surface area and pore volume, but using excess chemical will also increase the operation
cost.
Table 4 shows the characteristics of chemically activated carbons from the literature. The surface areas and total pore volume
of activated carbons in this study were comparable and were found

Table 3
Surface characteristics of activated carbons.
Carbons

SBET (m2 /g)

Vtotal (cm3 /g)

Vmicro (cm3 /g)

Vmeso (cm3 /g)

Smicro (m2 /g)

Soutsurf (m2 /g)

rmean ()

AC
AC
AC
AC

1115
2613
396
790

0.640
1.661
0.202
0.700

0.433
0.988
0.116
0.168

0.207
0.673
0.086
0.532

950.5
2281.0
225.7
370.5

164.5
332.0
170.3
419.5

22.91
25.43
20.42
35.39

Z
K
N
H

250

M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

Fig. 3. FT-IR spectrum of raw E. rigida.

to be higher than that of many activated carbons reported in the

literature, particularly for activation of K2 CO3 impregnated sample.
The results for AC Z and AC H activated carbons are parallel with
the literature results for ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 impregnation studies.
Elements H and O of biomass material lose more easily than
element C in the heat treatment thus, producing a carbonaceous
material after activation [8]. Table 5 shows the elemental analysis
of activated carbons. Compared to their raw biomass material; all
carbon samples had much higher contents of C and lower contents
of H and O. It can be said that chemical activation has accelerated
the removal of H and O resulting increased C as expected. Activated
carbon obtained by 75% K2 CO3 impregnated sample had relatively
higher carbon content which makes it more carbonaceous material
compared to other activated carbons.
Functional groups are very important characteristics of the activated carbons, because they determine the surface properties of the
carbons and their quality. FT-IR spectroscopy in its various forms
is an important and forceful technique which can give useful information about structures. It can provide basic spectra of activated
carbons, especially for determination of types and intensities of

Fig. 4. FT-IR spectra of impregnated raw samples.

M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

251

Fig. 5. FT-IR spectra of produced activated carbons.

their surface functional groups [30]. FT-IR spectrum of E. rigida is

given in Fig. 3. The broad and at band at about 33003400 cm1
shows the presence of OH stretching vibration of alcohol, phenol
or carboxylic acid. The strong band at 29502800 cm1 represents C H stretching vibration in methyl group. Another strong
band at 1750 cm1 is ascribed to C O vibrations probably from
esters, ketones or aliphatic acids. The band at 1620 cm1 can be
ascribed to C C aromatic ring stretching vibration. The peak at
12451155 cm1 may be assigned to the hydrogen-bonded P O,
O C stretching vibrations in P O C linkage, and P OOH. The very
strong band at 1020 cm1 represents C O stretching vibrations.
The weaker bands between 765 and 530 cm1 are ascribed to aromatic structures. It can be said that the chemical structure of E.
rigida, being a lignocellulosic material, is made up of different
atomic groupings and a large number of functional groups. Fig. 4
represents the FT-IR spectra of ZnCl2 , K2 CO3 , NaOH and H3 PO4
impregnated raw samples. It is seen that chemicals are well mixed
with raw material, thus there is no signicant changes on functional
groups of raw E. rigida. Only H3 PO4 had changed the functional

groups of raw material at the higher impregnation ratios. FT-IR

spectra of activated carbons obtained from different chemical activation agents and ratios are given in Fig. 5. The spectra are roughly
very similar for the activated carbons; however they differ from
E. rigida, which is a result of the chemical and thermal treatment.
The OH stretching vibration band at about 33003400 cm1 and
C O vibrations at 1750 cm1 are disappeared for all activated carbons after carbonization. The band at 14701430 cm1 is ascribed
to C H bending vibrations in CH3 groups for all activated carbons.
The band at 15921530 cm1 is the unsaturated stretching of C C
bonds ascribed to aromatic C C vibration for activated carbons
obtained from ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 activation.
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique was used to
observe the surface physical morphology of the samples. SEM
micrographs of E. rigida and the impregnated raw samples are
given in Fig. 6. It is seen that a thick wall structure of E. rigida exists
along with a little porosity at the raw material. SEM images of
impregnated samples shows that the surface of E. rigida is coated
with impregnation agents and no deformation or pore formation

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M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

Fig. 6. SEM images of (i) raw ER, (ii) ZnCl2 , (iii) K2 CO3 , (iv) NaOH, (v) H3 PO4 impregnated biomass samples.

has occurred on the surface before activation. SEM images of produced activated carbons are given in Fig. 7. It is obvious that thick
wall gets opened and a wider porosity is created, thus the external
surface areas of the chemically activated carbons are full of cavities.

Pores of different size and different shapes were obtained from

different chemical activation agents. K2 CO3 impregnated sample
forms sponge-like morphology after carbonization. Honeycomblike morphology obtained by both ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 impregnated

Fig. 7. SEM images of (i) AC Z, (ii) AC K, (iii) AC N, (iv) AC H.

M. Klc et al. / Applied Surface Science 261 (2012) 247254

Table 4
Characteristics of activated carbons from the literature obtained from various precursors using chemical activation.
Activated carbon
source

Activation
agent

Coffee husks
Rice husk
Wood
Cotton stalk
E. rigida
Soybean oil cake
Bamboo
Corn cob
Pistachio shell
E. rigida
Plum kernels
Loquat stones
Anthracite
Corn cob
E. rigida
Chestnut wood
Peanut hulls
Vine shoots
Vetiver roots
E. rigida

ZnCl2
ZnCl2
ZnCl2
ZnCl2
ZnCl2
K2 CO3
K2 CO3
K2 CO3
K2 CO3
K2 CO3
NaOH
NaOH
NaOH
NaOH
NaOH
H3 PO4
H3 PO4
H3 PO4
H3 PO4
H3 PO4

Characteristics

References

SBET (m2 /g)

Vtotal (cm3 /g)

1522
480
1450
795
1115
1353
1724
668
1800
2613
113
1590
334
446
396
735
1177
991
1272
790

0.750
1.365
0.940
0.630
0.640
0.680
1.071
0.320
0.400
1.661
0.083
0.790
0.140
0.420
0.202
0.279
0.570
0.440
1.190
0.700

[17]
[9]
[18]
[12]
This study
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
This study
[8]
[23]
[24]
[25]
This study
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
This study

Table 5
Elemental analysis of activated carbons (as received).
Sample code

Impregnation ratio

Elemental analysis (wt.%)

C

Oa

AC Z

25
50
75
100

93.22
95.36
95.89
96.79

1.74
1.36
1.28
0.78

1.55
1.54
1.52
1.51

3.49
1.74
1.31
0.92

AC K

25
50
75
100

96.97
97.17
98.03
97.93

0.61
0.79
0.81
0.86

0.85
1.04
1.13
1.20

1.57
1.00
0.03
0.01

AC N

25
50
75
100

94.21
90.08
88.86
88.31

1.69
1.05
0.25
0.87

1.96
2.12
1.70
1.85

2.41
6.75
9.19
8.97

AC H

25
50
75
100

94.64
95.07
94.96
96.42

1.03
0.83
1.24
1.09

2.14
2.00
1.88
1.74

2.19
2.10
1.92
0.75

By difference.

samples. NaOH lead only a surface deformation of raw material

and almost no pore formation obtained after activation, thus
the surface area was very low for NaOH impregnated activated
carbons.

4. Conclusion
Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from E.
rigida are described in this study. Effects of different chemical
activation agents (ZnCl2 , K2 CO3 , NaOH and H3 PO4 ) and ratios
(255075100% w/w) on pore structure and surface chemistry
of activated carbons were investigated. According to the experimental results, activation with different chemical agents and
ratios strongly affects characteristics of the activated carbons
and optimum impregnation ratio should be selected to produce
higher surface area and pore volume. The main conclusions are as
follows:

253

Low yields of activated carbons were obtained by chemical activation. The yields of activated carbons were decreased with the
increasing impregnation ratio in the range of 29.517.8% for ZnCl2
impregnation, 13.39.7% for K2 CO3 impregnation, 13.44.1% for
NaOH impregnation, and 29.016.8% for H3 PO4 impregnation.
The maximum surface area for activated carbons are as follows:
2613 m2 /g from 75% K2 CO3 , 1115 m2 /g from 75% ZnCl2 , 790 m2 /g
from 100% H3 PO4 and 396 m2 /g from 100% NaOH impregnated
samples. Other impregnation ratios of K2 CO3 also give very high
surface area activated carbons which lie in the range of commercial activated carbons.
SEM images showed that pores of different size and different
shapes were obtained from different chemical activation agents.
K2 CO3 impregnated sample forms sponge-like morphology,
ZnCl2 and H3 PO4 impregnated samples forms honeycomb-like
morphology activated carbons after carbonization. NaOH lead
only a surface deformation of raw material, thus almost no pore
formation obtained from activation.
K2 CO3 was found more effective than the other agents as a chemical reagent under same conditions in terms of high surface area,
porosity development, and surface morphology of the activated
carbons. NaOH was found to be an ineffective chemical reagent,
lead only a surface deformation, almost no pore formation and
little surface area after activation.
Consequently, the activated carbons produced from E. rigida
has special characteristics and can be used as adsorbents
for various environmental applications including removal of
organic and inorganic hazardous compounds from industrial gases
or aqueous solutions for the purication or the recovery of
chemicals.

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