Kayakujutsu

I think they use activated charcoal because of its ability to form covalent bonds with almost any molecule, so in a poison or overdose situation activated charcoal would be the best allround antidote to start with. Because of this rapid ability to bond I would also think of it as almost tastless, apart from the gritty texture,
maybe there was a solvent added to speed the reaction.

but how is it with activated charcoal? should'nt that be faster than norman charcoal? it got atleast more surface area..

sorry for stealing your thread a bit

Activated charcoal is normal charcoal which has been steam treated to remove all the goodies which makes black powder burn fast, if only we new what goodies was removed we could add them to activated charcoal and make the best willow subsitute available. could sell that for a fortune....

you can make instant smoke clouds using a central charge of blackpowder with Titanium tetrachloride which when set off mixes with damp air it hydrolyzes readily, resulting in a dense white smoke consisting of droplets of hydrochloric acid and particles of titanium oxychloride.
The titanium tetrachloride smoke is irritant and unpleasant to breathe.
It is dispensed from aircraft to create vertical smoke curtains, and during World War II it was a favorite smoke generation agent on warships.