Cassava stem and crude potash: Low-cost and suitable precursors for synthesis of activated charcoal

Cassava stem, an agricultural waste product, is not fully utilized in Ghana as a resource. Poor management of the cassava stem waste includes burning the waste to cause emission and environmental problems. Due to this, it is important to research into its alternative application as a viable precursor. Despite the fact that these cassava stems are found in large quantities, transformation of these wastes into useful products such as the production of activated charcoal for commercialization has not been effective. This has made the importation of commercial activated carbon into Ghana to be expensive and therefore not affordable to many citizens. In this study, proximate analysis of the cassava stem indicated a moisture content of 3.3 ± 0.29%, a volatile matter of 77.67 ± 0.59%, (w.b), fixed carbon of 15.71 ± 0.79% (w.b), and ash content of 3.31 ± 0.30% (w.b). The purity of the crude potash was 79.28% and the calculated impregnation ratios used in this study were 0.6, 1.4 and 2.1, resulting in an activated charcoal with a surface area of 1101 m²/g (Sear method) and an iodine number of 1080.75 mg/g. These values fall within the typical range of commercial activated carbon used in water treatment (500–1500 m²/g surface area and 500–1200 mg/g iodine number). These findings highlight the viability of cassava stem and crude potash as suitable combination of precursors for producing high-performance activated charcoal.