Extraction of carbon and preparation of activated carbon from waste dry cell battery

• The graphite rod was segregated from waste batteries. • Activated carbon was prepared from the extracted intermediate product through calcination. • Different crystallographic parameters were explored. • In-depth characterization was performed using XRD, FTIR, SEM, TGA. The goal of this research was to synthesize activated carbon (AC) from discarded batteries, and the crystallographic characterization of the final product (AC), intermediate product, and raw sources were explored. The formation of activated carbon was confirmed by utilizing an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) that revealed the structure of activated carbon was hexagonal. The crystallite size of activated carbon was computed by applying several model equations (Linear straight-line method of Scherrer's equation, Monshi-Scherrer method, Sahadat-Scherrer method, Size-Strain plot method, Halder-Wagner method, Williamson-Hall method), and the range of calculated crystallite size was 5–28 nm. The weight loss occurred in the two stages those was explored by a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) confirmed that there was no significant change in the peak position between intermediate product and activated carbon except for the intensity and peak separation difference. Field Emission Electron Microscope (FE-SEM) revealed several types of shapes of the waste source, intermediate product, and main product (AC).