Carbon Black

Abstract

Carbon black is a powdered form of elemental carbon in the form of near‐spherical colloidal particles and coalesced particle aggregates of colloidal size, obtained by partial combustion or thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons. Due to its structure of aciniform (grape‐like) aggregates, carbon black is a member of the class of substances known as industrial aciniform aggregates (IAA), which also include precipitated amorphous silica, pyrogenic silica, titania, and pyrogenic alumina. It is distinguishable from other commercial carbons, such as charcoal, by its fine particulate nature and the shape, structure, and degree of fusion of the particles observed with the electron microscope. The fundamental unit of a carbon black particle is the aggregate.