The high-mesoporosity activated carbon was prepared from sawdust by zinc chloride activation. Before activation

the zinc chloride and sawdust were mixed directly without binder or water. In order to investigate the feasibility of this process

the effects of factors such as impregnation ratio

activation temperature

activation time and the density on methylene blue adsorption properties of the activated carbon were studied. The results showed that the optimum conditions were impregnation ratio 1.0:1

activation temperature 950℃

activation time 60 min and the density 1.4 g·cm-3. The activated carbon prepared under the optimized conditions had a methylene blue adsorption value of 387 mg·g-1

a BET surface area of 2104 m2·g-1 and the average pore diameter of 3.11 nm. The total pore volume of the activated carbon was 1.63 cm3·g-1 with a mesopore volume of 1.17 cm3·g-1

yielding a high mesopore percentage of 71.8%. The results showed that the activated carbon had an excellent adsorption capacity due to its large surface area and well-developed mesopore structure

indicating the feasibility of the dry process.