The Effect of Activator Type and Concentration on the Performance of Activated Carbon from Bengkirai Wood as Adsorbent to Reduce Iron Content in Water

Iron is a major impurity in many water resources and leads to contamination in drinking water. One technology that can be used to reduce iron content is adsorption using activated carbon. Activated carbon can be derived from biomass including forestry and agricultural waste. To produce an economic adsorbent, the researcher used bengkirai wood sawdust waste which is treated by physical and chemical activation to produce activated carbon. However, there is no information on the effect of the type and concentration of activator on the performance of bengkirai wood activated carbon in reducing iron content. Thus, the purpose of this research is to understand the effect of activator type and concentration on the performance of activated carbon from bengkirai wood to adsorb iron content. There are five steps in this research which are preparation, carbonization, chemical activation, characterization and performance test. The result shows that the carbon activation with H2SO4 0.1 M produces activated carbon with the highest iodine number compared to the other type of activator and concentration. The iodine number for this activated carbon is 839.76 mg/g. However, the activated carbon treated using HNO3 shows the best performance to adsorb iron in water up to 18.4 mg iron content/g activated carbon (60 min adsorption).