I used >600 degree C for the preparation of Carbon frameworks at 5 degree C /min heating rate for 1 hour using Ar gas as inert atmosphere. In literature it is confusing , many reports have mentioned similar method as pyrolysis and others call it carbonization process.
These terms are often used interchangably. Carbonization is heating any material in a process in the absence of air, and it does not allude to any specific process. Whereas, pyrolysis is a process for making chemicals (e.g biofuels) and char from carbonaceous feedstock, and it is also classified into fast and slow pyrolysis processes based on the heating rate. As both the processes of carbonization and pyrolysis has one thing in common; heating in absence of air, they are often used interachanbly, sometimes very confusingly. Hope it will help.
In both pyrolysis and carbonization, you use heating (thermolysis) of the material in an inert environment. This is the basic similarity between these two processes. However, they are different in their objectives as follows:
Pyrolysis is intended for extracting valuable products from the material. For example, you pyrolize coal to extract tar (oil), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and char. Each of them has industrial uses.
Carbonization, on the other hand, is intended for increasing the carbon content in the material. A good example is when you carbonize the PAC (polyacrylonitrile) to increase its carbon content and obtain carbon fibers.
Hope this discussion helps you recognize the difference between pyrolysis and carbonization as both are theromolysis processes in an inert environment but the intended application is different.
They are the same in _thermal/inert space- process, the objective for each one is different
"Pyro" - fire and "lysis" - separation
From this basic perspective, pyrolysis is a process used to separate compounds using heat in the absence of air. An example from my field: waste carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) when recycled using the pyrolysis process, the matrix phase disintegrates into volatiles, liquid, gas and char; leaving the clean carbon fibres untouched.
Carbonization is a part of a pyrolytic reaction. This process is mainly adapted to increase the carbon content in a material. A simple example would be adding carbon to dead organic materials to transfer it into carbon (wood to charcoal).
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