A solid decompostion product of a natural or synthetic organic material.
Note:
If the precursor has not passed through a fluid stage, char will retain the characteristic shape of the precursor (although becoming of smaller size). For such materials the term '
pseudomorphous' has been used. Some simple organic compounds, e.g. sugar, melt at an early stage of
decomposition and then polymerize during
carbonization to produce chars.
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.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
