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Abstract

Carbon adsorbents have been prepared through an economical method including nanocasting of sucrose in naturally occurring clinoptinolith-type zeolite from Semnan-Iran. Carbonisation of hybrid material containing nanocasted sucrose in natural zeolite was performed in an atmosphere controlled tube furnace using N2 as inert gas. Two different processes, namely acid wash and KOH molten salt methods, were utilised for template removal and carbon activation. The resultant activated carbon samples were characterised by X-ray diffractometery, small angle X-ray scattering and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Based on these techniques the KOH molten salt procedure is selected as the best method for both leaching of the zeolite template and activation of the final product. The surface area and porosity of samples were also determined by the conventional nitrogen porosimetry method using the …