commercial manufacturers employ a pre-treatment step before
carbonisation which involves the feedstock being either
impregnated or mixed with a dehydrating agent such as phosphoric
acid, zinc chloride or sulphuric acid (Serrano et al., 2004; Mac-
Donald and Quinn, 1996). During the carbonisation step thermal
decomposition of the carbonaceous material takes place which
eliminates non-carbon species such as oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen.
The result of the thermal decomposition step is a carbonised
mass with a rudimentary pore structure (Yehaskel, 1978; Yalcin
and Arol, 2002). The residual elementary carbon atoms of the carbonised
mass are grouped into stacks of flat aromatic sheets that
are cross-linked in a random manner. The free interstices between
these irregular aromatic sheets maybe filled with tarry matter,
products of decomposition, or partially blocked by disorganised
carbon (Bansal et al., 1988).