Abstract: A process for recovering volatile inorganic and organic impurities from gases using a layer of fibrous activated carbon for adsorbing the impurities while applying an electric voltage, preferably a DC voltage, across the fibrous layer to improve its adsorption capacity, and then desorbing the impurities from the layer by first increasing the temperature of the layer and then passing an inert gas through the activated carbon to desorb the adsorbed impurities.