Bulk Activated Charcoal
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Activated charcoal, also traded as activated carbon (CAS 7440-44-0, EINECS 231-153-3), is supplied as fine powder, granular mesh cuts, and pelletized extrudate, conforming to the USP Activated Charcoal monograph. Coconut shell is the standard base material, with bamboo and hardwood available where a wider mesopore fraction is required, in standard steam-activated and acid-washed grades.
The material serves two distinct commercial roles. As a finished-product ingredient it goes into dietary supplement and oral care formats, where particle fineness and adsorptive capacity set the specification. As a processing aid it performs decolorization and purification duty in sweetener, juice, edible oil, spirit, and water operations, where iodine number and molasses number govern grade selection and the carbon is filtered out before packaging. Contact us for current availability and pricing by grade.
Product Data
| Identity | Activated carbon, CAS 7440-44-0, EINECS 231-153-3. Amorphous carbon with a developed internal pore structure, not a chemically defined compound. |
|---|---|
| Base material | Coconut shell charcoal is standard. Hardwood and bamboo bases are available for higher molasses number decolorizing duty. |
| Available Forms | Fine powder, granular mesh cuts, and pelletized extrudate for column service. |
| Applicable food-grade standard | Conforms to USP Activated Charcoal monograph. Food Chemicals Codex and EP conformance available by grade. |
| Grades | Standard steam-activated, and acid-washed for reduced ash and near-neutral pH. |
| Shelf Life | 2 years from production when stored in closed containers, cool and dry, away from direct sunlight and moisture. |
| Moisture | Maximum at packing, with the material gaining weight from ambient humidity once opened. |
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Certifications & Compliance
The certifications, monograph conformances, and test records below are available based on grade, base material, origin, and lot.
- National Organic Program Status: Permitted on the National List as a filtering aid only. It is not a certifiable organic ingredient and cannot be carried into an organic product as a formulation component.
- Kosher and Halal: Certificates available for coconut shell grades produced at certified facilities.
- Non-GMO: Statement available on the basis of a coconut-derived input, since coconut is not commercially grown from genetically modified varieties.
- Gluten-Free, Allergen, and Vegan: Supported by a single-input product with no carriers, binders, or processing additives.
- Monograph Conformance: USP Activated Charcoal, Food Chemicals Codex, and European Pharmacopoeia certificates by grade.
- Water Treatment Standards: NSF/ANSI 61 and AWWA B604 conformance for potable and process water service.
- Core Documentation: Certificate of Analysis reporting iodine number, ash, moisture, pH and particle size, alongside the specification sheet, origin documentation, and SDS.
- Testing Support: Heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, cyanide, sulfide, and microbiological screening for supplement and food-contact grades.
Production & Sourcing
Coconut shell is a stored byproduct of the copra and desiccated coconut industries rather than a fresh crop, so activation runs year round and is not tied to a harvest window, though shell pricing moves with copra cycles. Origins are selected on shell quality, activation capacity, and export infrastructure.
- Shell Collection: Coconut endocarp is recovered from copra and desiccated coconut processing, then sorted to remove husk fibre and foreign matter.
- Carbonization: Cleaned shell is charred in controlled-airflow kilns at roughly 400 to 600°C, driving off volatiles and leaving a fixed-carbon char.
- Activation: Char is treated with superheated steam at roughly 900 to 1,000°C, which opens the pore network and sets the iodine number.
- Cooling, Acid Wash, and Sizing: Carbon is quenched and screened; material for reduced ash and near-neutral pH is acid washed and rinsed, then granular cuts are sized on mesh and powder is milled to 325 mesh.
- Testing and Release: Each lot is tested for iodine number, ash, moisture, pH, and particle size before release to the destination grade specification.
- Packing and Traceability: Material is hot-sealed into lined bags under low-humidity conditions and coded to the activation lot for origin traceability.
Applications
Standard input for charcoal capsules, tablets, and single-serve stick packs, and the largest US ingredient outlet for the powder grade.
A processing aid in sugar, glucose, and juice concentrate operations, and in spirit and vinegar polishing, filtered out before packaging.
Applied in bleaching and deodorizing trains, generally alongside bleaching clay rather than in place of it.
Granular and pelletized cuts serve carbon bed and filter housing duty in plant water systems and beverage line pretreatment.
Formulated into toothpaste, powders, soaps, and mask products, where the powder grade is the working format.
Included in digestive support supplements and feed additive premixes.
Supplied for markets that permit vegetable carbon as a food colour under E153, subject to that market’s specification.
Physical & Functional Characteristics
- Appearance and Color: Uniform matte black powder or hard black granules with no gloss.
- Odor and Flavor: Odourless and tasteless.
- Pore Architecture: Coconut shell skews strongly microporous, while wood and bamboo carry a wider mesopore fraction.
- Staining Behaviour: Deposits transfer permanently onto porous surfaces, grout, seals, and fabric, so dedicated tooling is standard practice.
- Chemical Inertness: Capture is physical adsorption rather than chemical reaction, so the material does not alter or bond with what it holds.
- Thermal Behaviour: Stable at high temperature without oxygen, but subject to slow oxidation and eventual ignition in air.
- Bulk Mass Behaviour: Large sealed quantities can deplete oxygen and self-heat, which makes confined-space entry a real hazard around bulk bags and silos.
- Composition and Additive Status: Single-input material with no carriers, binders, anticaking agents, or flow aids added at the plant.
- Nutritional and Dietary Profile: Contributes no calories or nutrients, and is vegan and gluten-free as a single plant-derived input.
Functionality
- Adsorption Capacity: The microporous structure binds small organic molecules by surface attraction, and iodine number is the practical proxy for how much a lot will hold.
- Decolorization: Larger mesopores capture high-molecular-weight colour bodies in syrups, juices, and oils, which is why molasses number predicts refining performance.
- Insolubility: Must be held in suspension while working and then removed by filtration or press, or deliberately retained in the finished dose form.
- Format-Driven Contact Behaviour: Powder gives fast equilibrium in batch dosing and filter press service, while granular and pelletized cuts trade contact speed for low pressure drop and reuse in fixed beds.
- Non-Selective Scavenging: Adsorption does not distinguish between target impurities and desirable actives, so flavors, vitamins, preservatives, and botanical actives in the same system will be stripped unless dosing is staged or the carbon is removed first.
- Dose Form Compatibility: Low bulk density and poor cohesion mean tablet and capsule lines need flow aids and compaction excipients for fill-weight consistency.
- pH Effect in Aqueous Systems: Standard grades raise the water phase pH while acid-washed grades hold near neutral, which matters in low-buffer beverages.
Benefits for Commercial Manufacturing
- Grade Selection Against a Measurable Target: Iodine number and molasses number let a buyer match a lot to adsorption or decolorization duty instead of testing on the line.
- Three Formats From One Activation Path: Powder, granular, and pelletized cuts split downstream of the same furnace, so moving between them is a grade change not a requalification.
- Acid-Washed Option for Sensitive Systems: Lower ash and near-neutral pH remove the reformulation work alkaline standard grades create in low-buffer beverages and cosmetic bases.
- Year-Round Availability: The base material is a stored byproduct rather than a seasonal crop, so order timing follows shell and freight pricing.
- Monograph Conformance for Regulated Lines: USP and Food Chemicals Codex documentation supports supplement supplier approval without a separate qualification study.
- Traceable Activation Lots: Coding to the furnace run lets QA tie an inspection result back to base material and origin.
- Alternative Qualified Lanes: Activation capacity across several Asian origins gives a second lane if one faces a shell price spike or freight disruption.
- Packaging Suited to a Dusty Low-Density Powder: Lined, hot-sealed bags protect against both moisture pickup and ambient odour loading, preserving adsorptive capacity.
