Preparation of activated carbons from walnut wood:: a study of microporosity and fractal dimension

Agricultural and forest residues constitute an extraordinarily important source of precursors for the manufacture of activated carbons. Activated carbons are well known as porous solids with a highly developed apparent surface area. In the present work, activated carbon has been prepared from forest residues of walnut tree wood (a raw material not studied until now) by physical activation. Raw material has been carbonized between 573 and 1073 K and afterwards activated in air at temperatures between 623 and 823 K. The apparent surface area, micropore volume, mesopore volume and fractal dimension of the samples prepared have been calculated.