Date stones were used as precursor for the preparation of activated carbons by chemical
activation with ferric chloride and zinc chloride. The effects of operating conditions represented
by the activation time, activation temperature, and impregnation ratio on the yield and adsorption
capacity towards methylene blue (MB) of prepared activated carbon by ferric chloride activation
(FAC) and zinc chloride activation (ZAC) were studied. For FAC, an optimum conditions of 1.25
h activation time, 700 °C activation temperature, and 1.5 impregnation ratio gave 185.15 mg/g
MB uptake and 47.08 % yield, while for ZAC, 240.77 mg/g MB uptake and 40.46 % yield were
obtained at the optimum conditions of 1.25 h activation time, 500 °C activation temperature, and
2 impregnation ratio. The equilibrium data for MB adsorption on prepared activated carbons at
optimum conditions were well represented by the Langmuir isotherm model, giving maximum
MB uptake of 304.51 and 387.54 mg/g for FAC and ZAC, respectively. Also, the results showed
that the surface area and iodine number of activated carbon prepared by activation with ferric
chloride at optimum conditions were 780.06 m2/g and 761.40 mg/g, respectively. While 1045.61
m2/g surface area and 1008.86 mg/g iodine number were obtained for ZAC prepared at optimum
conditions.
