Machine learning application for predicting key properties of activated carbon produced from lignocellulosic biomass waste with chemical activation

The successful application of gradient boosting regression (GBR) in machine learning to forecast surface area, pore volume, and yield in biomass-derived activated carbon (AC) production underscores its potential for enhancing manufacturing processes. The GBR model, collecting 17 independent variables for two-step activation (2-SA) and 14 for one-step activation (1-SA), demonstrates effectiveness across three datasets—1-SA, 2-SA, and a combined dataset. Notably, in 1-SA, the GBR model yields R² values of 0.76, 0.90, and 0.83 for TPV, yield, and SSA respectively, and records R² of 0.90 and 0.91 for yield in 2-SA and combined datasets. The model highlights the significance of the soaking procedure alongside activation temperature in shaping AC properties with 1-SA or 2-SA, illustrating machine learning's potential in optimizing AC production processes.