Synthesis and Characterization of Activated Carbons Obtained from Nutshells

Walnut and hazelnut shells were used to prepare activated carbons using potassium hydroxide as an activation agent. The obtained activated carbons presented a specific surface areas of 1661 and 1322 m2/g and pore total volumes of 0.80 and 0.65 cm3/g, respectively. Moreover, the obtained activated carbons presented high quantity of micropores in their structure and that is why they have a great potential for environmental applications and they could be an alternative to commercially available activated carbons from the viewpoint of adsorption capacity. This paper proves that walnut and hazelnut shells have got a large potential as precursors to obtaining activated carbons and they could be successfully converted into a well-developed porous materials by chemical activation.