# Activated carbon

Highly porous carbon made from coconut shell, coal or wood; the workhorse adsorbent for drinking water, PFAS, mercury, gold and food purification.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/

Commodity chemicals · Other inorganics · No. 12

- Single chemical
- Feedstock: Oil, gas or coal
- about 3 Mt a year (indicative, basis: $6.6 billion / about $2,000-2,500/t average value); HS 380210 world imports 690,807 t in Jan-Sep 2025 (ICC)
- 5.0 t CO₂e per t
- HS 380210
 Commodity chemicals · Other inorganics · Foundation · Matter

One gram of charred coconut shell hides up to 1,500 square metres of surface, and it is cleaning the world's water.

Chart: Illustration: Activated carbon

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Coconut shells, coal or wood are charred, then blasted with steam at about 800-1,000 C, burning tunnels that give each gram 500-1,500 m2 of surface.

##### Three things to know

1. Activation opens 500-1,500 m2 of pore surface per gram, enough to trap PFAS, mercury, chlorine and even gold.
2. Sri Lankan coconut-carbon export prices jumped from about $3,000/t in January 2025 to over $4,300/t by October as shell charcoal ran short.
3. India exported $306 million in 2024, third after China and the US, with the United States as its top buyer.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Raw material**Coconut shell, coal, wood or peat
2. 2 **Carbonisation**Shells charred in pits or kilns
3. 3 **Activation**Steam at 800-1,000 C opens pores
4. 4 **Sizing**Granular, powdered or pellets, sometimes impregnated
5. 5 **Use and reuse**Spent granules reactivated, powder discarded
 Covered in [How a chemical process works: reactions, separations, catalysts and flowsheetsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-chemical-processes-work/)[Pharmaceuticals and fermentation: from molecule to medicineChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/pharmaceuticals-and-fermentation/)

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## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/correlation/index.md)
- [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/routes/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/production/index.md)
- [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/feedstocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/movement/index.md)
- [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/regulation/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/activated_carbon/links/index.md)