Activated carbon is a black porous solid carbonaceous material.

Activated carbon is mainly composed of carbon and contains a small amount of oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, nitrogen, chlorine and other elements. It has an irregular arrangement in structure and small pores between cross connections. When activated, it will produce carbon tissue defects, with low packing density and large specific surface area. It has strong adsorption performance and is a widely used industrial adsorbent. The specific surface area of ordinary activated carbon is between 500 and 1700 m2/g.