Activated carbon is a carbonaceous, highly porous adsorptive medium that has a complex structure composed primarily of carbon atoms. The networks of pores in activated carbons are channels created within a rigid skeleton of disordered layers of carbon atoms, linked together by chemical bonds, stacked unevenly, creating a highly porous structure of nooks, crannies, cracks and crevices between the carbon layers.

Activated carbons are manufactured from coconut shell, peat, hard and soft wood, lignite coal, bituminous coal, olive pits and various carbonaceous specialty materials. buy activated charcoal bulk Chemical activation or High Temperature Steam Activation mechanisms are used in the production of activated carbons from these raw materials.

The intrinsic pore network in the lattice structure of activated carbons allows the removal of impurities from gaseous and liquid media through a mechanism referred to as adsorption. This is the key to the performance of activated carbon.

Adsorption is the attachment or adhesion of atoms, ions and molecules (adsorbates) from a gaseous, liquid or solution medium onto the surface of an adsorbent – activated carbon. The porosity of activated carbons offers a vast surface on which this adsorption can take place.

Adsorption occurs in pores slightly larger than the molecules that are being adsorbed, which is why it is very important to match the molecule you are trying to adsorb with the pore size of the activated carbon. yrd carbon These molecules are then trapped within the carbon's internal pore structure by Van Der Waals Forces or other bonds of attraction and accumulate onto a solid surface.

Typically 1 m3 of Activated Carbon with 0.3m3 of internal pores can adsorb 30m3 or more of a gas, even if present in low concentrations in a carrier.