Articles

Unburned Carbon from Bagasse Fly Ash to Produce Activated Carbon in a Single-Stage Chemical Process

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Bagasse ash waste is generated in sugar mills from the use of bagasse as a fuel. This waste frequently noticed, its way to landfilled places where it is disposed. The dumping of biomass wastes caused in numerous agricultural processes is usually an environmental problem as odour and pollutes the soil. Recycling these leftovers for the manufacturing of activated carbon, an adsorbent with numerous uses, including the removal of pollutants, was one option for such a problem. In this work, activated carbon was made from Bagasse ash using a chemical activation process at 800 °C. Fourier Transform-Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the sample. The functional groups are confirmed by FT-IR and the existence of hydrocarbons. The SEM and XRD studies show that the generated activated carbon has a low amount of inorganic elements when compared to the precursor. These experimental results suggested that Bagasse ash might be used as a starter in the activated carbon manufacturing method, making it a cost effective resource.

Effect of Molar Ratio on Structure of PPy-PVA Composite Film

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A chemical oxidation method is used to synthesize pyrrole with ferric chloride as oxidant to prepare polypyrrole. Multiple chemical oxidations were carried out using various molar ratios. A stock solution of PolyVinyl Alcohol was produced to form composites of polymers. The PPy-PVA composites were achieved with the help of solution casting method to obtained free standing films. These composites films were characterized using SEM, FTIR and XRD techniques. The result of SEM, FTIR, and XRD reveals that the surface morphology varies as per the molar ratio. Along with the surface morphology molar ratio the conductivity of composite films was studied in the temperature range 303 K-343 K using two probe conductivity method. It has been observed that molar ratio also plays an important role in the conductivity of composite films.