Recent developments in the preparation and regeneration of activated carbons by microwaves

To date. microwave energy has been widely developed and applied to almost every field of chemistry. In many cases, microwave technology has proven to remarkably reducing costs, accelerating reaction rates, improving yields and selectively activating. This paper presents a state of art review of microwave technology, its background studies, fundamental chemistry and industrial applications. With the renaissance of activated carbon, there has been a steadily growing interest in this research field. The review provides a summary on recent development in preparation and regeneration of activated carbons. The key advance of introducing microwave energy has been highlighted relative to conventional methods. Moreover, the major drawbacks, challenges with its future expectation are presented and discussed. Conclusively, microwave energy is predicted to be a potentially viable and powerful replacement for fuel technology in various areas, while its progress represents an expanding field in the area of adsorption science. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.