a porous highly adsorptive form of carbon used to remove colour or impurities from liquids and gases, in the separation and extraction of chemical compounds, and in the recovery of solvents
Also called: activated charcoal, active carbon
activated carbon in American English
a form of highly porous carbon that can easily adsorb gases, vapors, and colloidal particles: it is made by destructive distillation of wood, peat, etc., followed by heating the resultant product to high temperatures with steam or carbon dioxide