The method through which activated carbon air filters remove pollutants from the air is called adsorption. This is not the same thing as absorption. The item you want to remove (let's say water) is absorbed into the absorbent's structure (like a sponge), but it does not become a molecular component. As a result, water isn’t chemically bonded to a sponge when it is used to absorb water. It just fills up the gaps inside it.
Carbon filters, on the other hand, use adsorption rather than absorption to achieve their results. The primary difference is that during adsorption, pollutants attach to the carbon's surface. Absorption, on the other hand, involves contaminants being absorbed inside the structure itself – much like a sponge.