Development of Low-Cost Activated Carbon Derived from Pterospermum Acerifolium Waste Fruit for CO2 Scavenging of Fresh Produce

Abstract

The objective of this study is to develop porous chemically impregnated activated carbon adsorbent derived from waste Pterospermum acerifolium fruit for active or controlled atmosphere packaging of fresh produce. Box behnken (BBD) design was used for synthesis of activated carbon using Pterospermum acerifolium fruits with impregnation ratio (0.5-2), pyrolysis temperature (500-800 ⁰C) and time (30 - 120 min) as operating conditions. The responses analysed were yield and iodine number of activated carbon. Carbon was prepared using thermochemical method and potassium carbonate as the chemical activator. CO2 scavenging study was conducted using the synthesized activated carbon, which was kept in permeable sachets for CO2 adsorption study. The established optimum conditions for KOH activated carbon were 1.41 impregnation ratio at 771 ⁰C for 101 minutes. 13.23% yield and 1508.63 mg/g iodine value was observed at optimum condtion. Surface area of obtained carbon was found to be 1438.65 m2/g with microporous structure. Sponge-like texture was formed after activation process filled with micropores and mesopores with disorganized graphite structure illustrated by SEM micrograph and RAMAN spectroscopy respectively. Findings of CO2 scavenging study for activated carbon showed a reduction of 0.3% in 6 hours in a closed container with tomatoes. Activated carbon synthesized from Pterospermum acerifolium fruit can be suitably used as CO2 adsorbent for active or controlled atmosphere packaging of fresh produce. These adsorbents were used as carbon dioxide scavenging in the packaging of vegetables.