Photographs and SEM studies the structural changes in boards with different drying method anatomy during pyrolysis and activation. Fig. 7 shows the 500_ magnification for (a) oil palm wood, (b) charcoal and (c) activated carbon. The wood surface has a relatively smooth solid structure mainly void of pores but with occasional crevices. Similar to other SEM works [33], the wood surface was also covered with many globular silica bodies that contain sharp, conical agglomerations. It was also noted that there was a thickening of the basal cell forming a hat-like brim, and depressions into the wood surface to accommodate the silica body. However, when the wood was subjected to pyrolysis, there was rupturing of parenchymatic ground tissues. The solid surface was transformed to uneven textures and layers. The presence of small pores on the surface showed that charcoal was starting to develop a rudimentary pore network. Moreover, the silica globules seemed to be more exposed due to the leveling off or shrinkage of the thick basal cell brim.