Preparation of Activated Carbon from Cassava Stem as a Adsorbent of Antibiotics Pollutants in Water

The aim of this research was to prepare activated carbon from cassava stem by chemical activation method using potassium hydroxide as activating agent with different pyrolysis temperatures (500, 600, 700 và 800 oC). All activated carbon samples (AC) provide the higher specific surface area than the non-activated carbon sample. The activated carbon (AC-7) sample prepared at 700 oC with the maximum specific surface area of 1643 m2/g and pore volume of 1.0293 cm3/g. The obtained activated carbon was used in the removal of tetracycline (TC) in water. The maximum adsorption capacity of AC-7 for TC reachered 357,14 mg/g. This value was higher other materials, the improved adsorption capacity of AC-7 could be explained the presence of mesopores with high specific surface area after KOH activation could be significantly improved the adsorption performance of the activated carbon materials. The result show the potential of AC in removing polluted antibiotics.