Activated Carbon is a type of microcrystalline carbon made from carbonaceous substances that has a black appearance, developed internal void structure, high surface area, and strong adsorption capacity. Activated carbon has certain important properties such as chemical stability, mechanical strength, acid and alkali resistance, and heat resistance, making it widely and importantly used in many fields such as food, chemical industry, national defense, medicine, environmental protection, and agriculture. At present, the production methods of activated carbon mainly include chemical activation method, physical activation method and chemical and physical activation method. The physical activation method for preparing activated carbon mainly uses oxidizing gases (CO2, H2O, air, etc.) as activators. The activator reacts with the carbon atoms inside the raw material to generate gas and escapes, thus forming pores at the carbon atoms. After a sufficient amount of carbon atoms react with the activator, a large number of microporous structures will be produced. Chemical activation is a process in which chemical reagents and raw materials are cross-linked or polycondensed to form a microporous structure. Chemical activation has a shorter production cycle than physical activation, and the process is mature. Currently, commonly used activators include H3PO4, NaOH, ZnCl2, etc. The chemical-physical combined activation method combines the advantages of physical and chemical activation methods to prepare activated carbon with high adsorption performance. However, there are shortcomings in the current technology. It is necessary to further study the related mechanism of action between them, and to develop new technical equipment.
