A process by which solid residues with increasing content of the element carbon are
formed from organic material usually by
pyrolysis in an
inert atmosphere.
Note:
As with all pyrolytic reactions, carbonization is a complex process in which many
reactions take place concurrently such as dehydrogenation, condensation, hydrogen
transfer and
isomerization. It differs from
coalification in that its reaction rate is faster by many orders of magnitude. The final
pyrolysis temperature applied controls the degree of carbonization and the residual content
of foreign elements, e.g. at
the carbon content of the residue exceeds a
mass fraction of 90 wt.%, whereas at
more than 99 wt.% carbon is found.
Source:
PAC, 1995, 67, 473
(Recommended terminology for the description of carbon as a solid (IUPAC Recommendations
1995))
on page 484
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by
A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997).
XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic,
J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.
