**2.3 Activation of carbon black (CB) using sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide**

In a typical experiment, approximately 15 g of dried-sieved carbon black was impregnated with 100 mL of H2SO4 and the impregnation mixture was kept for 12 hours in an oven at 100°C as shown in **Figure 2**. Therefore, the mixture was further heated in an oven for 6 hours at temperatures ranging from 200 to 280°C. Consequently, a black bubbles-like structure of activated carbon was produced and was allowed to cool. Upon cooling, the activated carbon was rinsed with hot distilled water to remove acid from the activated carbon until the pH of the resulting solution was neutral, that is, pH = 7. The resultant activated carbon was further dried in an oven at 120°C overnight. The resultant product was thus named: Sulfuric acid-based carbon black-activated carbon (CB-AC 1). On the other hand, the hydrogen peroxide-based activated carbon was rinsed with cold distilled water to remove hydrogen peroxide residue from the activated carbon. The resultant activated

**Figure 2.** *Samples of raw carbon black in an electric oven for chemical activation.*

carbon was further dried in an oven at 120°C overnight. The resultant product was thus named: Hydrogen peroxide-based carbon black-activated carbon (CB-AC 2).
