| Activated Carbon works by attracting and holding certain chemicals as air/water passes through it. Activated Carbon is a very porous material; therefore, it has an extremely high surface area for contaminant adsorption. The word adsorb is significant. When a material adsorbs something, it attaches to it by chemical attraction. The huge surface area of activated charcoal gives it countless bonding sites. When certain chemicals pass next to the carbon surface, they attach to the surface and are trapped. The equivalent surface area of a single pound of Activated Carbon ranges from 63 to 145 acres. Activated Carbon is made of tiny clusters of carbon atoms. The carbon source is typically materials like peanut shells, coconut shell, and even coal. The raw carbon is heated in the absence of air to produce a high carbon material. The carbon is activated by passing oxygen gases through the material at extremely high temperatures. The activation process produces the millions of pores that result in such high adsorptive properties.
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