CARBON BLACK: PRODUCTION, CHARACTERISTICS, TESTING, AND USE IN RUBBER COMPOUNDS (Paper No. B)

摘要

Carbon black is produced by the incomplete combustion or thermal decomposition of organic materials. It has found widespread use not only as a pigmenting agent for inks, paints, and plastics, but more importantly as a reinforcing filler for cured rubber compounds, such as tires, belts, and hoses. It provides economics in that it reduces the amount of more costly polymer needed for a rubber item, yet it also adds mechanical strength and wearability due to polymer-filler interaction and Van der Waals attraction between carbon aggregates. Carbon black aggregates are nanomaterials that display an aciniform morphology, being composed of spherical nodules or particles fused together like a cluster of grapes. As such, the resulting aggregates are very robust and may be primarily characterized by a combination of surface area and degree of branching (structure). This paper will address the production, identification, testing, and properties of carbon black and filled rubber compounds. The focus will be on the most common means of producing tread and carcass carbon black grades, ASTM designations for these grades, ASTM test methods used in production and shipping, and the structure/surface characteristics that allow carbon black to influence properties of cured rubber compounds.