Carbon filters are specialist molecular filtration medias. Coal or coconut shell activated carbon that shows an extraordinarily high specific surface area of about 1 000-1 700 m2 / g. The pores of activated carbon have diameters on the order of millimicron, that is to say the same order of magnitude as molecules.
Activated carbon does not mask odors but adsorbs them. It establishes the molecules that come in contact on the inner surface of the pores, the adsorption phenomenon resulting from the forces of molecular attraction (Van de Waals force).
But this adsorption phenomenon depends on a number of parameters: the nature of the product, concentration, temperature, humidity ...
If the adsorption of a product is insufficient, it is possible to obtain better results by impregnating the activated carbon.
The phenomenon becomes a physical-chemical adsorption.
When activated carbon is saturated with adsorbed products it can be reclaimed, unless it has been impregnated.