Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Applied Physics A (2022) 128:211 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-022-05336-z A comparative study of carbon nanofber (CNF) and activated carbon based on coconut shell for ammonia (NH 3 ) adsorption performance Asih Melati 1  · Galih Padmasari 1  · Rama Oktavian 2  · Frida A. Rakhmadi 1 Received: 24 December 2021 / Accepted: 24 January 2022 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2022 Abstract Currently, the applications of nanomaterials have been sparsely addressed regarding adsorption and the separation of gases. Concerning their applications in the feld of gas adsorption, high specifc surface area and stability in the chemical reaction are important concerns for nanomaterials. This paper focuses on the system hybridization of activated carbon and carbon nanofbers (CNF) produced from coconut shells, which is used for ammonia adsorption process. The purpose of this research is to fabricate activated carbon and CNF based on coconut shell, and then apply them for the adsorption of ammonia to eliminate its odor. After that, this study analyzed the adsorption speed rate from the inlet system. Ammonia adsorption in this work was conducted using the batch adsorption method and measured using the adsorption speed rate supported by the TGS826 sensor. Activated carbon and CNT were also characterized in terms of their surface morphological tests using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) to determine the particle size, morphological form, and the functional groups of material. The results indicated that activated carbon has a better performance compared to CNF regarding its ammonia adsorption capability due to the SEM and FTIR result test. Moreover, particle size has an impact on the adsorption process. Keywords Activated carbon · Adsorption · Carbon nanofber · TGS sensor · Ammonia gas 1 Introduction Ammonia is a colorless gas potentially released within a specifc range from several diferent sources. It is a corrosive gas that may be fatal if inhaled. In fact, ammonia could be found in efuent wastewater discharged to water bodies, pos- ing a severe threat to aquatic life and human health through the consumption of seafood. The removal of ammonia from the air and water remains a considerable challenge in some scientifc research areas. Many studies have been conducted on ammonia adsorption using diferent solid adsorbents, such as cellulose-based carbon aerogels (CAGs) impreg- nated on chemical liquid [1], Cu-Zeolite [2], mesoporous alumina [3], Coal ash [4], and nanoparticle [5], 5]. However, solid adsorbent has several drawbacks includ- ing their high cost in the synthesis process, energy-intensive regeneration process—especially in dye removal process— and low surface area [7]. The development of nanomate- rials, such as carbon nanofbers (CNF), carbon nanotubes (CNT), carbon quantum dots (CQD), and nanodiamonds, has been gaining attention for academia and researcher for solid adsorbents due to their attractive surface properties. The huge surface area of CNT and activated carbon could facilitate gas difusion and storage, i.e., ammonia into the porous material, whereas the higher chemical response allows for chemical sorption. In their remarkable contribu- tion, Bannov et al. reported that CNT efectively adsorbed ammonia, indicated by the highest sensor response for thin flms followed by its high resistance, where the maximum response was achieved at room temperature, 2.5 and 2.8% for 500 ppm of ammonia and for the sensors deposited at 700 °C for 40 and 10 min, respectively [8]. More interestingly, the hybridization of CNT with metal compounds was investi- gated to explore the enhancement of ammonia adsorption under severe chemical conditions to increase the chemical stability of CNT. For example, TiO 2 /CNT was investigated * Asih Melati asih.melati@uin-suka.ac.id 1 Physics Department, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 2 Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia