What is the difference between activated charcoal and charcoal

Both activated charcoal and charcoal contain carbon, and their composition must be inseparable from carbon. Although these two substances have different applications in life, many people are not clear about their specific differences. So what is the difference between activated charcoal and charcoal? Next we will explain in detail.

1. What is activated charcoal?

Activated charcoal is prepared from carbon-containing raw materials such as wood, coal and petroleum coke through pyrolysis and activation processing. It has developed pore structure, large specific surface area and abundant surface chemical groups, and has strong specific adsorption capacity. A general term for carbon materials.

2. What is charcoal?

Charcoal refers to the dark brown or black porous solid fuel that remains after incomplete combustion of wood or wood raw materials, or pyrolysis in the absence of air. Charcoal is an impure amorphous carbon that retains the original structure of the wood and the tar remaining in the pores.

3. The difference between activated charcoal and charcoal

1) Different concepts:

Activated charcoal can be said to be the deep processing of charcoal, so in a strict sense, activated charcoal is a type of charcoal. Charcoal products are mainly divided into four categories: white carbon, black carbon, activated carbon, and mechanism carbon.

2) Different properties:

Charcoal is a kind of fuel with combustibility, but the processing technology is different: charcoal only goes through the carbonization stage, while activated charcoal goes through activation, pickling and drying stages in addition to the carbonization process.

3) Different composition:

The composition of charcoal is composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Complete combustion of charcoal and oxygen produces carbon dioxide, while incomplete combustion produces toxic carbon monoxide. Activated charcoal is mainly composed of carbon elements and extraneous oxygen and hydrogen.

4) Different applications:

Charcoal is mainly used in daily heating, boiler combustion, metallurgical industry and the manufacture of carburizing agents. Activated charcoal is mainly used for removing pollutants in water, decolorizing, filtering and purifying liquid and gas, and also for air purification, waste gas recovery, and precious metal recovery and refining. It is also widely used in chemical industry, environmental protection, food processing, metallurgy, drug refining, military chemical protection and other fields.military chemical protection and other fields.