The Effect of Parameter Combinations (Carbonization Temperature - Chemical Activator) on Degree of Graphitization, Aromaticity, and Fungsional Group of Rose Petal (Rosa sp) Based-Activated Carbon

Activated carbon is a porous material which is produced from the carbonization of organic compounds by involving the activation process. Activated carbon can be used as an absorbent of heavy metal cations, anions, and organic compounds. Quality of activated carbon is determined by the crystal structure, aromaticity, and its surface functional group. Activated carbon consists of amorphous and graphite structures. The graphite structure in activated carbon is important because it determines its thermal stability. Content of graphite structure in the activated carbon is stated as degree of graphitization (DOG). Aromaticity (f _a) is related to amount of carbon atoms which form graphene layers in the activated carbon. The oxygenated functional groups of the activated carbon determines its hydrophilic / hydrophobic nature. Purpose of this research is to learn effect of carbonization temperature - chemical activator (ZnCl₂) combination on degree of graphitization, aromaticity, and functional group on activated carbon. This research was conducted by using a pink rose flower precursor, at activator/precursor mass ratio of 0.1 at carbonization temperature of 400, 600 and 800°C for two hours under nitrogen gas stream. Characterization was carried out with FTIR spectrophotometry and X-ray diffraction. The DOG and aromaticity were calculated based on intensity of the difractograms. The characterization with FTIR spectra related to -OH and aromatics C=C bond vibrations. The highest DOG was obtained by the activated carbon resulted at 400°C, i.e. 92.31%. However, no significant different of the aromaticity, about 0.42 to 0.50.