Preparation of activated carbon by chemical activation using KOH and acetone from low density polyethylene (LDPE) wastes

Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is one of the major post-consumer plastic wastes. It contributes a significant volume to solid wastes and is not biodegradable in real time. However, LOPE waste can be recycled. One of the ways is to convert this into activated carbon. As we know, activated carbon (AC) is not cheap because of its original materials, such as coal and its fabrication process. In addition, we know that AC with large adsorption capacity is highly needed for various necessity. LOPE as raw material provides the opportunity to obtain a high micropore structure. So, this wastes could be a potential raw material for AC manufactured. Carbon adsorbent was prepared through a carbonization method with LOPE as raw material. The optimum synthesis conditions were determined by investigating the actual condition. LOPE waste was carbonizing at various temperature and time to determine the optimum condition and then chemically activating using KOH and acetone. From this study, obtained the optimum carbonization temperature was 415 °C for 135 minutes (transparent plastics) and 425 °C for 120 minutes (black plastics). Chemical activation was done using acetone and KOH. The AC was characterized using two methods: SEM and EOX measurement. The chemical activation using acetone 1 M had 352.55 m2/g surface area with 96.62% carbon composition. The results demonstrated the importance of temperature and duration of the process. The activated carbon obtained has potential use as pollutant adsorbents and others needed.