How is charcoal activated?

Adding salts to the charcoal powder, the mixture is charred, in order to create a porous structure. Excess materials are washed away with the use of dilute acid and pure carbon is left. The additional surface area created during this process is the main reason why activated charcoal is so beneficial.

According to a study conducted by the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in 2016, this activation process increases the surface area of the carbon particles so much...

...that about 50grams of activated charcoal, has 17.5 times more surface area than a full-size football field.