OPTIMIZATION OFSURFACE PROPERTIES OF ACTIVATED CARBON FROM PERIWINKLE SHELL USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

The relative utilization ofactivated carbon has constantly increased with the advancementinmoderntechnology.Inabidtomakeuseofalternativeprecursorsfor activatedcarbonproduction,periwinkleshellswereused. Thisstudyexploredtheuseofperiwinkleshellsfortheproductionofperiwinkleshell
activatedcarbon(PSAC)preparedusingpotassiumhydroxide(KOH)activationmethod.
The adsorbentwas characterized using the FourierTransformed Infrared (FTIR)
analysis.Centralcompositedesign(CCD)inresponsesurfacemethodology(RSM)was
usedfortheoptimizationofPSACproductionconditions.QuadraticmodelsandlinearmodelweredevelopedforthepercentageyieldofPSAC,thesurfaceareaandthe porosity.ModelsuitabilitywasvalidatedusingAnalysisofVariance(ANOVA).TheFTIR
analysisshowedthepresenceofstretchingvibrationbandssuchascarbonateion
( ),aliphaticN-H and heterocyclicN-H.Theoptimum conditionsforPSAC
productionwas536.375oCand82.087minutesforactivationtemperatureandactivation
time respectively.Thisled to maximized responses;PSAC’syield percentage of
95.147%,surfaceareaof71.525m2/gandporosityof36.695.Thecorrelationcoefficient
R2obtainedwereveryhighforeachresponse;99.47%,99.98%and97.77%forPSAC’s
yield,surfaceareaandporosityrespectivelyindicatingthattheresultsofexperimental
Studies were in perfect agreement with thosesuggested from model.Thus,the
predictionbythemodelwasingoodconformitywithactualresults.Periwinkleshells were found to attain PSAC that had a very high yield as well as excellent surface area
andporosity