Fundamental Study of Carbon Materials Derived from Empty Fruit Bunch via Hydrothermal Carbonization

Abstract

The utilization of biomass has recently gained great attention in recent years owing to growth of global environmental concerns. The aim of this work is to study the morphology of carbon materials derived from biomass oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) at different temperatures (160 - 200 °C) and times (4 - 12 h) followed by carbonization at 300 - 900 °C under nitrogen atmosphere for 2 h. The physiochemical properties of carbon sample were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and surface area analysis. The results demonstrated that the increase of hydrothermal temperature, hydrothermal time, and carbonization temperature resulted in the formation of carbon materials with higher surface area, porosity and carbon content. Our results revealed that carbon derived from EFB via HTC at optimal condition exhibited porous structure with high surface area, which can be further applied for absorbent applications.