Q.What do you understand by activation of adsorbent? How is it achieved?

Step 1 – Meaning. Since adsorption depends on surface area, "activation" is any treatment that increases the adsorbing capacity of a solid by increasing its effective surface area (or creating more active sites).

Step 2 – How it is achieved.

• Increasing surface roughness/subdivision: rubbing, mechanically breaking, or making the surface porous exposes more surface.
• Removing pre-adsorbed material: heating the adsorbent (e.g. wood charcoal heated to ~1273 K in vacuum or in a current of superheated steam) expels gases already adsorbed in its pores, uncovering a large fresh surface. Charcoal so treated is called activated charcoal and adsorbs strongly. …

Define activation as boosting adsorbing capacity via surface area, then list the two practical routes: fine subdivision …

• Saying activation changes the chemical identity of the adsorbent.
• Omitting the heating step that removes previously adsorbed gases. …