Utilization of Mendong Plants-Activated Charcoal as H2S and NO2 Gas Adsorbent: Preliminary Study

The study of exhaust H 2 S and NO 2 gases using activated carbon has been conducted. In this study, activated carbon was prepared from mendong plant (Frimbistylis umbellaris) , which was activated using zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ) with concentrations of 2.5; 5; 7.5; and 10 % w/v to determine the efficiency of H 2 S adsorption. Mendong charcoal was obtained from the process of using a modified tool. Activation was done by maceration using ZnCl 2 activator (w/v) for 24 hours. The adsorption of H 2 S and NO 2 was analyzed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry. Determinations of H 2 S gas carried out using the blue methylene’s method for 1 hour showed the highest effectiveness of mendong activated carbon was of that at the concentration of 2.5 % ZnCl 2 w/v with 80% of H 2 S removal. Further, the mendong activated carbon with the concentration of 2.5% ZnCl 2 w/v was used for NO 2 adsorption. The adsorption of NO 2 gas was conducted for 1 hour using Griess Saltzman’s method. The result showed that the largest concentration of NO 2 gas was adsorbed when the HNO 3 concentration was 1.5 M (0.057 µg/mL). The percentage of NO 2 efficiency adsorbed was at 28%.