Sunflower seed oil residue, a by-product of sunflower seed oil refining, was utilized as a feedstock for
preparation of activated carbon (SSHAC) via microwave induced K2CO3 chemical activation. SSHAC was
characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption–desorption and elemental
analysis. Surface acidity/basicity was examined with acid–base titration, while the adsorptive properties
of SSHAC were quantified using methylene blue (MB) and acid blue 15 (AB). The monolayer adsorption
capacities of MB and AB were 473.44 and 430.37 mg/g, while the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area,
Langmuir surface area and total pore volume were 1411.55 m2/g, 2137.72 m2/g and 0.836 cm3/g, respectively.
The findings revealed the potential to prepare high surface area activated carbon from sunflower
seed oil residue by microwave irradiation.