Impact of Different Pyrolysis Temperatures on the Quality of Activated Carbon from Sunan Candlenut Shells

This study aims to explore the conversion of Sunan candlenut shells into activated carbon through a sodium acetate activation process with an impregnation ratio of 1:10. Specifically, Sunan candlenut shells that are almost unprocessed in the East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, are characterized using fast pyrolysis at various temperatures (500°C, 600°C, and 700°C) to obtain marketable charcoal quality. It was then activated using 1 N NaCH3COO, which is environmentally friendly because it is an organic salt that is easily soluble in water. Comprehensive characterization was carried out using SNI 06-3730-1995, particularly for the fixed carbon test parameters and iodine adsorption capacity. The results were also confirmed by BET, SEM, and FTIR tests to study the surface area, pore structure, morphology, and functional groups of the activated carbon. The activated carbon produced showed that at 700°C it reached the highest BET surface area of 622.91 m²/g and total pore volume of 155.26 × 10⁻³ cm³/g, which was conditioned by the increase in lignin content. Although increasing the pyrolysis temperature facilitated an increase in pore formation, it also reduced the number of oxygenated functional groups, potentially affecting the adsorption performance. The results of this study indicate that sodium acetate activation represents an environmentally friendly and sustainable approach for converting biomass waste when the pyrolysis temperature is increased above 700°C.