Preface

Activated carbon, commonly referred to as charcoal or activated charcoal, is a refined powder form of carbon that is widely used for a variety of purposes, including the filtration of toxins from water and air. Activated carbon has a large surface area (32 000 sq. ft ≈ 3000 m²) due to the presence of tiny, low-volume holes in it. This characteristic gives activated carbon great potential for chemical reactions and adsorption. Activated carbon often comes in the form of tiny granules or powders with diameters of 0.15 to 0.25 mm and sizes of not more than 1.0 mm. By attaining a high surface area by activation and/or by altering its surface characteristics and functionalization through chemical treatment, activated carbon's possible uses may be enhanced. Coconut husks and carbon-based wastes from paper mills are two typical sources of activated carbon. Activated coal and activated coke are the names for the activated carbons made from coal and coke, respectively. Numerous industries, including those related to the environment, fuel storage, analytical chemistry, gas adsorption, chemical purification, agriculture, gas storage, skincare, the purification of alcoholic beverages, mercury scrubbing, food additives, etc., could benefit from the use of activated carbon.

This book aims to describe the various aspects of activated carbon including its synthesis, characterization, properties, and applications. This is a reference book for chemists, chemical engineers, students, and high-level professionals working in both R&D and academia who want to learn more about the synthesis, properties, and application of activated carbon. Overall, this book contains thirteen chapters. The first chapter describes the fundamental aspects of activated carbon and its classification and properties. The remaining chapters deal with specific applications of activated carbon including industrial, medical, analytical, environmental, catalytic, beverage, agricultural, fuel storage, food additive, and anticorrosive applications. The different chapters of the book are written by highly recognized scholars working in academia and industry, working in the fields of activated carbon and materials science, chemistry, and engineering.

We editors, Drs Chandrabhan Verma and Mumtaz A. Quraishi, would like to thank all contributors for their great efforts. On behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), we are very thankful to the authors of all chapters for their amazing and passionate efforts in the making of this book. Special thanks to Dr Merlin Fox (Commissioning Editor) and Dr Amina Headley (Editorial Assistant) at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), for their dedicated support and help during this project. In the end, all thanks to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for publishing the book.

Chandrabhan Verma

Mumtaz A. Quraishi