Surface and porous characterization of activated carbon prepared from pyrolysis of biomass by two-stage procedure at low activation temperature and it's the adsorption of iodine

• Activated carbon produced from Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds with ZnCl2 activation.
• Two-stage pyrolysis with air was studied in this paper.
• The different low pyrolysis temperatures (30–80 °C and 150–350 °C) were applied.
• Activation temperature, impregnation ratio and activation time was examined.
• The characterization of activated carbon was determined by FTIR, SEM and BET.

The textural characteristics of activated carbon prepared from biomass (Elaeagnus angustifolia seeds) activated with zinc chloride and two-stage pyrolysis in air was studied in this paper. The effect of activation temperature, duration time, impregnation concentration of agent and impregnation time was examined. Adsorption capacity was demonstrated with BET and iodine number. The highest iodine number was achieved as 1009 mg/g. The Dubinin–Astakhov approach was used to study the pore size diameter of activated carbon. The Dubinin–Radushkevich method was used to evaluate the micropore volume of activated carbon. The structural morphology of activated carbons were evaluated by SEM. The surface chemical characteristics of activated carbons were determined by FTIR spectroscopic method.