Activated carbon

Activated carbon (CAS 64365-11-3), also sold as activated charcoal and carrying the food colorant designation E153, is a high-surface-area adsorbent material produced from carbonaceous sources.

Where is Activated carbon used?

• Water treatment: removes chlorine, chloramines, pesticides and trace organics from drinking water and process streams
• Food and beverage: decolorizes sugar syrups, edible oils and fermentation liquors
• Pharmaceuticals: API purification, solvent recovery and removal of color bodies from intermediates
• Mining: adsorbs dissolved gold from cyanide leach solutions in carbon-in-pulp and carbon-in-leach circuits
• It is manufactured from coal, coconut shell or wood to capture contaminants, odors, colors and dissolved organics.
• Catalytic grades are more effective than standard grades at removing chloramines, hydrogen sulfide and other difficult contaminants in liquid or gas phase.
• Used as a stationary phase in low-pressure chromatographic separation of carbohydrates (mono-, di-, tri-saccharides) in combination with celite at 50% w/w, using ethanol solutions (5-50%) as mobile phase.
• In organic winemaking, allowed as a processing aid to adsorb brown color pigments from white grape concentrates.

Typical specification

• Internal surface area of 500 to 1,500 m² per gram.
• Supplied in three main forms: powder, granular and pellet.
• Granular grades according to DIN EN 12915-1 have a particle size of 8x30 mesh, i.e. 0.6 to 2.36 mm.
• Ball-pan hardness of granular grades is over 90 according to DIN EN 12915-1.
• Moisture content as delivered is up to 5% according to DIN EN 12902.

Regulatory status

• Assigned UN number UN1362 for transport.
• The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (24th edition, September 2025) includes activated carbon as an antidote for poisoning.
• The German Environment Agency lists two forms for drinking water treatment: granular according to DIN EN 12915-1 and powdered according to DIN EN 12903.
• Plant charcoal (a variant from plant raw materials) is approved as food colour E 153 in the EU, requiring at least 95% carbon on a dry, ash-free basis.

Storage, packaging and handling

• Once saturated, it can be thermally recycled or reactivated in specially designed furnaces for reuse in similar applications.

Frequently asked questions about Activated carbon

Can activated carbon be used to treat alcoholic beverages?

Activated carbon filters can be used to filter vodka and whiskey from organic impurities that can affect color, taste, and odor.

Technical content is compiled and updated by the SoleChem product team from public technical sources; the certificate of analysis (COA) governs product-specific specifications.