Single-step synthesis of magnetic activated carbon from peanut shell

Magnetic peanut shell based activated carbon (MPSAC) was first prepared via a simple one-step method in the existence of K2CO3 and Fe3O4. The effects of activation temperature and activation time on the structures and properties of the activated samples were analyzed. Results show that the development of the porous structures can be facilitated by increasing the activation temperature or the activation time. Compared with the activation time, the activation temperature was found to play the key role in the formation of magnet Fe3C. At 750 °C for 1.5 h or 800 °C for 1 h, Fe3O4 was almost converted into Fe3C. The prepared MPSAC-750-1.5 and MPSAC-800-1 demonstrated the high surface area with a micro-, mesopores and macropores combination.