Fabrication and Characterization of Porous Activated Carbon from Coconut Shell by Using Microwave-Induced KOH Activation Technique

Coconut shell-based activated carbon (CSAc) was prepared by chemical activation method using microwave-induced KOH technique. The activation process was successfully carried out with varying microwave power ranging from 100 to 1000 W and impregnation ratio of 1.0 to 3.0. The surface area, pore sizes, surface morphology and specific capacitance of the produced activated carbon were analyzed by using an automatic quantachrome instrument (Autosorb1C) volumetric sorption analyzer, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and automatic battery cycler. The optimum activation power and impregnation ratio were found at 600 W and 1.5, respectively. The resulted product, C3 has maximum surface area and specific capacitance value of 1768.8 m2 g-1 and 156.33 F g-1 respectively, with carbon yield of 58 %.