3.4. Surface Area analysis
The results on BET surface area (m2/g) and pore volume data are presented in Table 4. Among the two different experimental carbons, the H3PO4 treated DRFP carbon sample had the highest surface area (22.29 m2/g) followed by untreated carbon (17.54 m2/g) and H3PO4 treated BEFP carbon (15.37 m2/g). The lowest surface area was observed in KOH treated DRFP (0.3242 m2/g) followed by untreated BEFP carbon sample (1.04 m2/g). While the pore volume was high in the H3PO4 treated BEFP sample (0.456 cm3/g) the KOH treated and untreated carbon samples showed only an insignificant pore volume. In DRFP the pore volume was very much distinct in all the samples with untreated samples registering a higher pore volume (0.6032 cm3/g) than the KOH and H3PO4 treated samples, 0.3521 and 0.2598 cm3/g, respectively. However, the results on BET surface area and pore volume could not be compared with earlier reports. The BET surface area was comparatively low in both the substrates studied (0.2598-22.2908 m2/g). Earlier reports on DRFP found a lower surface (4.08 m2g-1) than our samples [28]. This could be attributed to the quality of substrates where both the samples were of a fibrous nature. This study derives support from an earlier study where the carbon obtained from coconut fibre treated with ammonium chloride solution and carbonized at 400°C for 1.5 hours was reported to have 1.26 m2/g surface areas.