a method is described to make a chemically activated carbon by first immersing a suitable carbonized material into a neutral aqueous solution of inorganic salts that constitutes the chemical activating agent . the carbonized material is then removed and forms a chemically loaded activatable material that is separately heated at temperatures up to 1000 ° c . to form the chemically activated carbon . an additional co 2 or steam activation step is implemented to increase the surface area up to ˜ 3000 m 2 / gm . the chemical activating agents are nitrate salts in aqueous solutions , and may be reused since they are not directly heated as part of the activation process . the carbonized precursor materials include naturally occurring sources of carbon , synthetic polymeric materials and petroleum based sources .