Commonalities and differences between charcoal and activated carbon

Charcoal and activated carbon are two forms of carbon that have a lot of overlap and have very similar compositions and production methods. What are the differences between them?

 

Overview of charcoal and activated carbon

 

Charcoal

Charcoal is considered to be a metamorphic form of graphitic carbon that is produced as a residue when carbon-rich materials are partially burned or burned in the absence of oxygen. Carbon-rich materials include mainly materials such as wood.

One thing to note is that charcoal is not naturally occurring in nature. That is, it is a man-made product. Even if charcoal is found in nature, it is likely to have been produced due to the effects of high temperatures such as forest fires.

 

Activated carbon

Activated carbon is a carbon-rich solid that is extracted by pyrolysis from biomass or other carbon-containing materials such as coal or tar pitch. In this process, the carbon material is also "activated" through a process that greatly increases the surface area of the material, allowing it to trap (or "adsorb") more molecules. This high adsorption capacity allows activated carbon to effectively remove pollutants from water and air, which is why it is often used in remediation or purification projects.