Caliphs M Zvinowanda, Jonathan O Okonkwo, Nana M Agyei and Pride N Shabalala
Keywords: Maize tassel, porosity, surface area, microstructure, thermal stability.
Abstract: Preparation and characterisation of biosorbents from maize tassel were studied. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) isotherm was used to model experimentally obtained N2-adsorption data (up to P/Po= 0.30); the results indicated that the powdered material is mesoporous with specific surface area (SBET), total pore volume (up to P/Po= 0.98) and average pore width (4V/A BET) values of 2.52 m2/g, 0.0045 cm3/g and 7.2 nm, respectively, for the 150-300 ?m particle size fraction. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) revealed a microstructure showing predominantly flattish rod like particles. The material exhibited stability to thermal decomposition up to about 230 ºC, as evidenced by the results obtained from simultaneous thermogravimetrydifferential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).
[View Complete Article]