Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from wood via microwave-induced ZnCl2 activation

Microwave heating, in which ZnCl2 was used as activation agent and heating carrier, has been successfully used to prepare activated carbon from wood. The process is simple and only takes a few minutes. The pore structure and surface area of the as-prepared carbon materials can be tuned by simply changing the ratio of ZnCl2 to wood and the microwave heating time. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.