A low cost and highly efficient adsorbent (activated carbon) prepared from waste potato residue

• Make potato residue become activated carbon (AC), turn waste into wealth.
• Avoid the pollution of potato residue.
• The AC could be applied into wastewater treatment.
• Our approach was simple and low cost.

This study was conducted to prepare a low cost and highly efficient adsorbent (activated carbon) from potato residue. The influence of the activation parameters such as carbonization temperatures and the impregnation ratios was investigated. The activated carbon (AC) was essentially mesoporous under the optimized conditions. The BET surface area, total pore volume and mesopore volume were as high as 1357 m2/g, 1.065 cm3/g and 0.982 cm3/g, respectively. The properties of the carbon samples that were prepared under oxygen-limited conditions and N2-atmosphere conditions were compared. The AC was used to adsorb methylene blue (qe = 540 mg/g), and the results showed that the prepared AC is an effective adsorbent for the removal of the organic dye. The experimental results indicated that the use of potato residue as a precursor material for the preparation of AC was feasible.