Hi Fridah Shabangu

To prepare the carbon material from any kind of material the heating must be done in absence of air/oxygen. This is why N2 atmosphere is used. The availability and the cost-effective nature of N2, make N2 a preferable one. Instead of N2, Ar can be used but Ar may be costly to effort. For the preparation of the carbon material vacuum condition may be favored instead of N2 atmosphere. After preparing the carbon material the activation can be done using alkaline or acid treatment.

I can say this from the best of my knowledge.

Regards

Hi, Arnab Mukherjee

Thank you so much for the feedback. I will try the vacuum condition.