Activated carbon is a hydrophobic adsorbent, which has the properties of selective adsorption of nonpolar substances, catalysis of functional groups on carbon surface and carbon itself as a reaction substance. Its reaction mechanism is still unclear.
Activated carbon has many uses. Widely used in almost all sectors of national economy and daily life. Carbon powder can be used for liquid phase decolorization, deodorization and refining and water purification. Granular carbon can be used for gas phase adsorption, solvent recovery, air purification, cigarette filter tip, in addition, it can also be used as a catalyst for the synthesis of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate and a carrier for precious metal catalysts.
Extended data
Before activated carbon was invented as a patent in the early 20th century, there were many documents and reference materials in history, more about the history of charcoal application.
In 3750 BC, Egyptians and Sumerians were the first known people to use charcoal.
In BC 1550, ancient Egypt recorded the medical use of charcoal. Hippocrates (460-359 BC), a famous ancient Greek doctor, and Pliny the Elder, an ancient Roman scientist, both recorded the treatment of epilepsy and anthrax with charcoal.
On the Phoenician merchant ship in 450 BC, fresh water was stored in charred barrels to inhibit the growth and deterioration of bacteria. This method has been used until18th century. In the Peacock Empire of the same period, Hindu religious documents mentioned filtering and purifying the Ganges with sand and charcoal for drinking. [Source Request]
In 157, Claudius mentioned charcoal made from vegetables and animals, which was used to treat many diseases.
In Compendium of Materia Medica (A.D. 15 18- 1593) compiled by Li Shizhen in China in the Ming Dynasty, it was mentioned that charcoal was used to treat diseases.
1773, karl william scheele discovered the adsorption capacity of charcoal through a lot of experiments, which can adsorb various gases.
65438-0777 reported the thermal effect of charcoal and its ability to adsorb gas, which led to the later "condensation adsorption theory".
In 1785, Scheler studied the adsorption capacity of charcoal gas, ranging from steam to a series of organic chemicals, and the decolorization of charcoal in various aqueous solutions, especially the commercial application of tartaric acid production. This seems to be the first time to systematically consider the adsorption of charcoal on liquid phase. At this time, the sugar industry has been looking for an effective method to decolorize syrup. At this time, charcoal did not play this role particularly effectively, which may be because the degree of porosity development has not reached the level of charcoal for syrup decoloration.
1794, a sugar factory in England successfully produced syrup decolorized with charcoal. 1805, France produced beet syrup on a large scale for the first time through charcoal decolorization. From 1805 to 1808, Delessert successfully decolorized beet wine with charcoal. 18 15, most sugar industries have switched to granular bone charcoal as decolorant.
Bussy pointed out in 1822 that the decolorization performance of activated carbon is not only affected by inherent raw materials, but also by heat-treated finished products and particle size. He showed that high temperature or long carbonization time reduced the adsorption performance and porosity, although he could not measure this factor. This is the first time to record the thermal and chemical process of activated carbon production.
184 1 year, Skardon systematically used hydrochloric acid for pickling, and then heated to regenerate bone carbon. This effectively eliminates the carbon adsorbed by mineral salts. He also introduced the process of producing and regenerating bone carbon in the first continuous vertical kiln in Germany.
1854, house introduced carbon, which was successfully used in the filter of London sewer system to remove impurities in steam and gas. In 1862, Lipscombe prepared drinking water purified by carbon.
1865, the hunter found that the carbon made of coconut shell has good gas adsorption performance. In 188 1, Kaiser first used the word' adsorption' to describe the carbon absorbed by gas.
190 1 year, Raphael von Ostrejko invented using metal chloride to carbonize plant-derived raw materials or using carbon dioxide or water vapor to react with carbonized materials to make activated carbon, and successively obtained British and German patents.
19 1 1 year, an Austrian factory produces activated carbon under the brand name Eponit.
From 19 14 to 19 18, the toxic gas of World War I entered the battlefield, and granular activated carbon was used as adsorbent to mass-produce military gas mask canisters.
After World War I, the development of large-scale activated carbon production in wartime led to the commercial production and application of activated carbon after the war. Europe has made great progress in manufacturing new raw materials of activated carbon. Activated carbon produced by adding coconut, almond shell and zinc chloride has high mechanical properties and adsorption capacity for gas and steam.
1935- 1940 Czechoslovakia uses sawdust and zinc chloride as activators to produce activated carbon, which is used to remove and recover harmful gases such as volatile solvents and accidentally leaked gases.
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