The temperature influence on Sisal fiber activated carbon

Sisal fiber is a natural fiber with a high cellulose content. Furthermore, Sisal fiber also contains hemicellulose and lignin, so it has a good potential to be an activated carbon. In this study, the activated carbon made of from Sisal fibers was performed through dehydration, carbonization, chemical activation, and physical activation. The dehydration process was carried out in the oven machine for 90 minutes at 120^OC. After that, the carbonization was done at a temperature of 400 OC for 2 hours. Furthermore, the activation process was conducted through two steps, namely a chemical and physical activation. The chemical activation used the KOH 25 % solution, while the physical activation with heating at the temperature of 700^OC, 750^OC, and 800^OC for 90 minutes. The activated carbon was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) to see the morphology and pore size and the blue methylene absorption test with ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectrophotometer to determine the active carbon surface area. The SEM image showed that a uniform and small-sized cavity structure on the surface of activated carbon was achieved by the physical activation at the temperature of 800 °C. Meanwhile, the surface area test with blue methylene absorption resulted in a maximum surface area of 574.92 m²/ g.