Preparation of activated carbon from tamarind seeds and Methylene blue (MB) removal

Abstract

In this study, thedye treatment which is methylene blue (MB)  as water pollutants was ascertained with the activated carbon that prepared from the tamarind seed
(Tamarindusindica). The conditions used to prepare activated carbon, (TSC) were activated using phosphoric acid as an activating agent at temperature 500 oC for four hours. These conditions may be attributed to enhance the surface area and pores development of TSC. Single point BET surface area (SBET) analysis gave the surface area of TSC was and FESEM analysis showed that the pores development and formation were mostly in circle and oval pattern. The best conditions for TSC sample to adsorb MB effectively were at 50 mL of MB with concentration 120 ppm at temperature, 323 K by using 0.04 g of TSC. The maximum adsorption capacity for MB dye solution was 102.77 mg g-1

Keywords: Tamarind seed; dyes; methylene blue; adsorption; phosphoric acid.