A form of carbon that has undergone extensive treatments to provide a highly porous quality consisting of large surface area is technically termed as activated charcoal. It is because of the large surface area this form of carbon becomes suitable for adsorption and other chemical reactions. The overall processing involves either chemical activation or physical reactivation making it an extremely porous element.
Activated charcoal products or better known as active carbon is processed from various materials like petroleum pitch, peat, wood, lignite, coal, coir, and nutshells. However, according to some recent derivations, materials like coconut shells are also responsible for producing active carbon. This adsorbent is formed under superior adsorption process and thus, it can be used in several industrial sectors for wide purposes. It is mainly used in purification and filtration purposes, and also in the medical field as an antidote to poison.
For several years, activated carbon has been popular for its various forms such as pellets, granules and powders. All these products have their own characteristics and versatile uses in different industries. Let us look into those details in the further paragraphs to come.
Process of Activated Charcoal
The chemical Activated charcoal converts into an activated adsorbent when steam and acid react together at extremely high temperatures. Due to this oxidative process, the charcoal's internal surface gets eroded in turn increasing the adsorption capacity. This entire process is carried out by creating an internal network of minuscule pores which are three times more effective as compared to regular charcoal.
These adsorbents are quite effective and powerful in nature. If you consider one standard 50-gram dose of active carbon, its overall surface area would approx up to 10 football fields. Hence, their benefits are vivid in a multitude of applications ranging from chemical industry to transportation line to medical sector.
Applications that Benefit from Activated Carbon
This is an odorless adsorbent that exhibits excellent adsorption properties. Owning to its quality it has several uses. So let us take a look below.
· Water, Air and Environmental Purification:It acts as the best purifying agent to get rid of pollutants and contamination present in air or water. It effectively purifies the drinking water and groundwater. It is also used for making breathing masks.
· Chemical Sector and Metal Finishing: Used as catalysts in various chemical reactions, and as an efficient agent for recovery of precious metals like gold. Used in removal of organic impurities from metal plating solutions to achieve optimum electroplating and metal purification processes.
· Health-Related and Medical Sector: Used in treating flatulence and indigestion problems. It is the best antidote to a person who is poisoned because of animal or insect bites. Pharmaceuticals and emergency departments at hospitals use it in the form of oral medicine.
Considering all the above varied applications and information, it is very easy to understand why active carbon has high demand across various industrial verticals.
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