History of carbon black
In the past, soot, which is similar to carbon black, was used to write papyrus letters in ancient Egypt and bamboo strips in ancient China. The production of carbon black was a type of cottage industry initiative when the method of paper production was discovered in the second century. After the canal process in 1892 and from the mid-1970s, most carbon black was produced by the oil furnace process, often referred to as black furnace. Then it has been widely used in various industries. Carbon black or soot is an amorphous form of pure carbon that is commercially obtained from the thermal or oxidative decomposition of hydrocarbons.
Carbon black and industry
Among the three groups of its types, it is the most important type of soot .The surface of this type of soot is neutral. Black thermal soot, its particle size range is between 120 and 500 nm, and its surface is inactive. Channel black soot with particles ranging from 9 to 30 nm is more acidic than others. But all the mentioned types of carbon black have excellent coloring, excellent chemical resistance, and the ability to not erode in the air. All three types are used in plastic, rubber, printing and painting industries, etc. Carbon black or soot is an ideal black pigment that is added in bulk in polymer matrices today and is used as a black masterbatch.
Carbon black and environment
If black carbon enters the air, it is considered a carcinogenic pollutant and endangers human health. Natural processes and some human activities are the cause of emissions, the more complete the combustion process, the lower the amount of black carbon emissions, and activities that lead to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels and biomass, such as the way diesel engines work, cooking stoves , burning wood and forest fires cause more emission of this pollutant.
Soot is a valuable black material
Soot is a valuable black material from the carbon family that is produced under controlled conditions and through a special process. With its properties, carbon black has a high position in the industries of producing pigments, master batches, inks and paints, and especially tires and rubber (from the beginning of use in rubber industries). This material, which has nanometer particles and is mainly produced by incomplete combustion of aromatic hydrocarbons in special furnaces under certain temperature and pressure conditions, is of special interest to tire makers due to its properties such as bending resistance, hardness and preventing tearing. Absorbing all visible wavelengths, Carbon Black is the most durable black pigment for polyolefins used outdoors. Fine carbon black particles can also be used to increase resistance to air and increase resistance to ultraviolet light. The coarser particles of this additive are cheaper, but ultimately have less intensity of coloring. Carbon Black consists of about 97 to 99% of carbon, its other components are hydrogen and oxygen. The surface functional groups of carbon black particles are oH and cooH. In addition to oxygen and hydrogen groups, carbon black may also contain very small amounts of nitrogen and sulfur. According to the production process, carbon black can be divided into three different categories, which are: a) furnace black b) channel black c) thermal black according to the size of its particles, which is between 20 and 80 nanometers.