Adsorbents · CAS 7440-44-0 · From China
Two bags of activated carbon can both read 1000 mg/g iodine and behave nothing alike. Coal, coconut-shell and wood-based carbon are different materials before anyone tests them — different hardness, ash and pore structure. So we never quote activated carbon by the iodine number alone: we match the base material to your application, then verify it against an independent lab before any container loads.
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Why Activated Carbon Buying Is Different
Ask three factories for a "1000 mg/g activated carbon" quote and each answer can be true — and wrong for your process. Coal-based carbon at that number is dense and hard, built to survive years of backwashing. Coconut-shell carbon at the same value is denser still, low in ash, built to survive weeks of agitation in a gold-recovery tank without turning to fines. Wood-based carbon can post an even higher number on paper and crumble between your fingers — it was never meant to hold its shape, only to adsorb large colour molecules in a liquid bath. None of the three is fake. They simply aren't the same product, and the iodine value alone can't tell you which one you're buying.
Then there's the version where the number isn't real — tested once on a cherry-picked sample, or never tested at all. That's why this page runs in order: the base material your application needs, how the key numbers get verified before you pay, and — because gold-recovery buyers work from a different spec sheet — a section written just for CIL/CIP carbon.
Coal-Based · Coconut Shell · Wood-Based
Find your base material's typical numbers and where it belongs. These are starting bands from normal production — your COA carries the measured values for your lot.
| Base material | Iodine No. (mg/g) | CTC activity | Hardness | Ash content | Matched application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal-based bituminous, granular | 900–1050 | 60–70% | ≥ 90% | ≤ 12% | Municipal & Industrial WaterAir & VOC |
| Coconut shell dense, low-ash | 900–1150 | 65–75% | ≥ 95% | ≤ 5% | Gold Recovery CIL/CIPDrinking-Water Polish |
| Wood-based high-porosity, powdered | 500–900+ | n/a — liquid-phase only | Low — powder, no ball-pan rating | ≤ 6% | Food & Beverage DecolourPharma & Sugar Refining |
Iodine value measured to GB/T 12496.8 or ASTM D4607; CTC activity to ASTM D3467; hardness to ASTM D3802 — the same standards our pre-shipment checks run against.
Blending base materials, or a use case between two rows? Tell us the application — we'll shortlist the grade.
Describe your application — we'll match the carbonSee The Actual Product
The Material
Hard coal- or coconut-based granules — iodine value and CTC are proven, not just printed.
How It Ships
Palletised 25 kg bags, ready to consolidate with your other chemicals.
In Use
Loaded into water, gold-recovery and air-treatment filter columns.
Trust The Lab, Not The Bag
The iodine value, hardness and ash printed on a woven bag are the seller's claim. What an independent lab measures from your actual shipment — not a pre-selected sample — decides whether the balance payment goes out.
Walk away
A number tested once, at the factory, on a cherry-picked bag — never checked again.
Healthy sign
Independent titration (GB/T 12496.8 / ASTM D4607) on pallet samples, checked against your contracted band.
Walk away
Granules that crumble between your fingers, or turn rinse water cloudy with fines in minutes.
Healthy sign
Ball-pan hardness (ASTM D3802) of 90%+ for water treatment, 95%+ for gold recovery — dense granules that hold shape under agitation.
Walk away
Unusually high ash on a "coconut shell" quote — often coal dust or filler blended in to cut cost.
Healthy sign
Ash content (ASTM D2866) inside the base material's normal band, backed by a COA you can verify independently.
We run these checks at the factory, and you can have an independent pre-shipment inspection repeat them before balance payment.
Get inspected, dated stockGold Recovery · CIL & CIP
A CIL or CIP circuit asks two things water treatment barely touches: can this carbon survive weeks of hard agitation without breaking apart, and does it hold gold well enough per gram to justify the elution cost. Get the base material or the mesh wrong and you're not just buying the wrong carbon — you're bleeding gold-loaded fines out of the tank with every screen change.
Ball-pan hardness
Predicts attrition loss in an agitated leach tank — most gold-recovery specs won't go below it.
US mesh sizing
6×12 or 8×16 mesh, coarser than water-treatment carbon — sized to load, elute and screen without blinding.
Preferred base material
Dense and low-ash by nature — why coconut shell dominates CIL/CIP even where coal-based carbon is cheaper.
Not just adsorption-tested
The activity number says what the carbon can hold. Attrition says how much survives long enough to hold it.
Reading The Quotes
Two quotes for "25 kg bags, activated carbon" can sit far apart and both be honest — the base material, activation level and physical form are three separate cost stacks before anyone talks about margin. A coconut-shell, acid-washed pellet at 1100 mg/g isn't competing with a coal-based granular carbon at 900 mg/g, even though both fit the words "activated carbon" on an invoice. When a quote looks impossibly cheap for the grade you specified, the usual explanation is a cheaper base material or a shortcut on activation — not generosity.
We quote against the base material and grade your application needs, and put the measured iodine value, CTC activity, hardness and ash on the COA — so you're comparing the same carbon, not the same two words.
— Matt, XILINK founder · 13 years sourcing & exporting industrial products from China
Send Your Application & Target Specs — Reference Price In 24hThe four levers behind every activated carbon quote
Base material
Coconut shell costs more to source than coal; wood-based sits in between — usually the biggest swing between two quotes at a similar iodine value.
Iodine value & activation level
Pushing iodine value higher means longer activation time and lower yield per ton — 1050 mg/g always costs more than 900 mg/g off the same base.
Granular, powdered or pelletised
Crushed granular is the economical default; extruded pellets and shell-shaped grades cost more but resist dust and crumbling.
Acid-washing & low-ash processing
High-purity and food-grade orders add an acid-wash step industrial-grade carbon skips — expect a premium for it.
What We Ship
Every lot ships with a certificate of analysis carrying the measured iodine value, CTC activity, hardness and ash against your locked spec, plus the base material and batch. Independent inspection before balance payment is available on any order.
A trial order of activated carbon from 1 ton rides alongside the rest of the water-treatment chemicals range in the same container — one set of documents to your port, whether that's Central Asia, South America, the Middle East, Africa or Southeast Asia.
Sourcing other categories too? See the full multi-category chemicals hub we consolidate from China.
| CAS number | 7440-44-0 |
| Form | Granular (crushed or shell) · powdered activated carbon · pelletised (extruded) on request |
| Base material | Coal-based · coconut shell · wood-based, by application |
| Iodine value | 500–1150 mg/g, by grade |
| Particle size | 4×8, 6×12, 8×16, 12×40 mesh (US) · powder 100–325 mesh |
| Packaging | 25 kg woven/kraft bags with PE liner · 500–1,000 kg jumbo bags for bulk orders |
| Shelf life | Indefinite sealed & dry · re-verify iodine value if stored over 12 months |
| Trial order | From 1 ton · consolidates with other water-treatment chemicals in one container |
| Documents | Per-lot COA (iodine/CTC/hardness/ash) · MSDS · third-party inspection on request |
Straight Answers
Ask for an independent lab re-test, not just the factory's certificate. Samples are drawn from the stacked bags on the loading floor — not a pre-selected "master sample" — and titrated to GB/T 12496.8 or ASTM D4607, checked against your contracted band. The report ships inside the container; balance payment releases against a result you've already seen.
Most CIL/CIP circuits specify ball-pan hardness of 95%+, almost always on coconut-shell carbon sized to 6×12 or 8×16 US mesh. Hardness this high resists weeks of tank agitation — softer carbon breaks into fines and you lose gold-loaded material every screen change.
Trial orders start from 1 ton. You don't need a full container of one grade — activated carbon consolidates with PAC, PAM and other water-treatment chemicals in the same box before you commit to volume.
Yes. Activated carbon is a non-dangerous good in bags or jumbo bags, palletised alongside coagulants and flocculants with one set of shipping documents — how most treatment plants consolidate a container.
Common coal-based and coconut-shell grades are usually in stock or produced within 7–15 days of confirmation. Ocean transit depends on route and is confirmed with the quote. For gold-mine and repeat buyers we schedule staggered shipments so the plant never runs short.
Matched, Verified, Loaded
Tell us what you're treating or recovering — water, gold, air or decolourisation — with whatever specs you have. We come back within 24 hours with the matched base material, the verification plan and current reference price.
Independent iodine, hardness & ash verification before payment
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