Porous carbon was successfully synthesized from palm male flowers (PMFs), using microwave-assisted potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation and was used as a catalyst support for the conversion of palm oil into bio-hydrocarbons, in fractions of green diesel and bio-jet fuel. Palm male flower-derived porous carbon (PC), consolidated with well dispersed cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanoparticles, was synthesized by simple wet-impregnation with subsequent thermal treatment. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized CoP/PC catalysts were evaluated by various techniques including proximate and ultimate elemental analysis, FTIR, XRD, N₂ sorption, SEM, TEM–EDS, and NH₃-temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The effects of the pyrolysis temperatures (600−900 °C), used for the impregnated samples before the reduction process, on catalyst properties and catalytic performance were investigated. Moreover, the effect of a liquid hourly space velocity of 0.5–1.5 h⁻¹ and reaction temperatures of 340–420 °C was studied in the palm oil conversion. The catalyst pyrolyzed at 600 °C possessed the greatest particle dispersion and surface area, and showed the highest yield of liquid hydrocarbon product (C9–C18). We also found that the high pyrolysis temperature above 800 °C partially transformed the Co₂P phase into CoP one which significantly exhibited higher cracking activity and bio-jet selectivity, due to the improved acidity of the catalyst.

Oil palm male flowers (PMFs), an abundant agricultural waste from oil palm plantation in Thailand, have been utilized as an alternative precursor to develop nanoporous carbons (NPCs) via microwave-assisted pyrolysis combined potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation. The influences of relevant processing variables, such as activating agent ratio, microwave power, and activation time on the specific pore characteristics, surface morphology, and surface chemistry of PMFs derived nanoporous carbons (PMFCs) have been investigated to explore the optimum preparation condition. The optimum condition under a microwave radiation power of 700 W, activation holding time of 6 min, and activating agent ratio of 2:1 obtained the PMFC with the highest Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area and total pore volume approximately of 991 m²/g and 0.49 cm³/g, composed of a carbon content of 74.56%. Meanwhile, PMFCs have a highly microporous structure of about 71.12%. Moreover, activating agent ratio and microwave radiation power indicated a significant influence on the surface characteristics of PMFCs. This study revealed the potential of oil palm male flowers for the NPCs’ production via microwave-assisted KOH activation with a short operating-time condition.

In this study, nano-porous carbon was completely obtained from oil palm leaves (OPL) by hydrothermal pretreatment with chemical activation, using potassium hydroxide (KOH) as an activating agent. Potassium hydroxide was varied, with different ratios of 1:0.25, 1:1, and 1:4 (C: KOH; w/w) during activation. The physical morphology of nano-porous carbon has a spongy, sponge-like structure indicating an increase in specific surface area and porosity with the increasing amount of KOH activating agent. The highest specific surface area of OPL nano-porous carbon is approximately 1685 m²·g⁻¹, with a total pore volume of 0.907 cm³·g⁻¹. Moreover, the OPL nano-porous carbon significantly showed a mesoporous structure designed specifically to remove water pollutants. The adsorptive behavior of OPL nano-porous carbon was quantified by using paraquat as the target pollutant. The equilibrium analyzes were explained by the Langmuir model isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics. The maximum efficiency of paraquat removal in wastewater was 79%, at a paraquat concentration of 400 mg·L⁻¹, for 10 min in the adsorption experiment. The results of this work demonstrated the practical application of nano-porous carbon derived from oil palm leaves as an alternative adsorbent for removing paraquat and other organic matter in wastewater.

The upgrading of plant-based oils to liquid transportation fuels through the hydrotreating process has become the most attractive and promising technical pathway for producing biofuels. This work produced bio-jet fuel (C₉–C₁₄ hydrocarbons) from palm olein oil through hydrocracking over varied metal phosphide supported on porous biochar catalysts. Relative metal phosphide catalysts were investigated for the highest performance for bio-jet fuel production. The palm oil’s fiber-derived porous biochar (PFC) revealed its high potential as a catalyst supporter. A series of PFC-supported cobalt, nickel, iron, and molybdenum metal phosphides (Co-P/PFC, Ni-P/PFC, Fe-P/PFC, and Mo-P/PFC) catalysts with a metal-loading content of 10 wt.% were synthesized by wet-impregnation and a reduction process. The performance of the prepared catalysts was tested for palm oil hydrocracking in a trickle-bed continuous flow reactor under fixed conditions; a reaction temperature of 420 °C, LHSV of 1 h⁻¹, and H₂ pressure of 50 bar was found. The Fe-P/PFC catalyst represented the highest hydrocracking performance based on 100% conversion with 94.6% bio-jet selectivity due to its higher active phase dispersion along with high acidity, which is higher than other synthesized catalysts. Moreover, the Fe-P/PFC catalyst was found to be the most selective to C₉ (35.4%) and C₁₀ (37.6%) hydrocarbons.

Water hyacinth (Wh) is an aquatic weed considered a nuisance in agricultural and fishing activities. Therefore, this study proposed repurposing this plant into activated carbon (AC). First, the ZnO-AC was precipitated and applied as a photocatalyst for degrading methylene blue. The preliminary photocatalytic test under UV irradiation identified the optimum ZnO-AC photocatalyst to degrade methylene blue (MB). The ZnO-AC photocatalyst recorded the highest degradation rate constant of 11.49 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹, which was almost two-fold higher than that of ZnO (5.55 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹). Furthermore, photocatalytic degradation of MB and carbaryl under sunlight irradiation by ZnO-AC demonstrated degradation rate constants of 74.46 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹ and 8.43 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹, respectively. To investigate the properties of ZnO-AC, several techniques were performed. ZnO-AC and ZnO exhibited similar results in morphology, crystalline structure, and Raman characteristics. However, ZnO-AC presented smaller pore diameters than those of ZnO, which enlarged pore surface area, and the presence of carbon-related groups implied the presence of AC on ZnO-AC surfaces. This can be attributed to the presence of AC on the ZnO surface, increasing the capture of surrounding toxic molecules and elevating the reaction density. This mechanism is attributed to promoting the degradation of toxic molecules. Therefore, using Wh as a carbon source for the transformation of AC can alternatively solve the problems of aquatic weed management and carbon storage strategies, and the application of AC in ZnO-AC photocatalysts can enhance photocatalysis.