CharacterizationThe specific surface area and pore structure of the activatedcarbons were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorptionisotherms at −196◦C using the ASAP 2010 Micromeriticsequipment. All the activated carbons were outgassed at 150◦Covernight. The specific surface area was calculated by theBrunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) equation (Brunauer, Emmett,& Teller, 1938). The external surface area, micropore area andmicropore volume were calculated by the t-plot method. Thetotal pore volume was evaluated from the liquid volume of N2at a high relative pressure near unity 0.99 (Guo & Lua, 2000).The mesopore volume was calculated by subtracting the micro-pore volume from the total volume. The pore size distribution(PSD) was determined using the density functional theory (DFT)model. The morphology of activated carbons was visualized byscanning electron microscopy (SEM) using a Philips XL 30equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). TheFourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used todetermine the functional groups of the activated carbons; thespectra were recorded over the range (400–4000 cm−1) on aPerkin-Elmer spectrum two spectrometer using KBr pellets.