Specialty Carbons For Plastics

The role of specialty carbon blacks in plastics

Specialty carbon blacks are produced through partial combustion of hydrocarbons to meet rigorous specifications and deliver important functionality to plastics according to end-user performance requirements. There are many types of specialty carbon blacks typically defined by their particle size and structure. These properties of carbon black enable its unique characteristics that deliver critical value to end-users through a range of functionalities including color, UV protection and conductivity. Selecting the right specialty carbon black requires balancing a range of properties, such as color strength, dispersibility and physical cleanliness.

Read more about the numerous uses of our products in Conductive & ESD applications and review our Specialty Carbon Black for Plastics Application Overview.

Jetness / color strength

The morphology of the carbon black particle (particle size and structure) determines almost all relevant performance attributes of our products. For example, specialty carbon blacks with smaller particle size generally provide darker masstones, higher jetness, stronger tinting strength and better UV protection. But they tend to be more difficult to disperse than products with bigger particle size.  

Dispersion / mechanical performance

Poor dispersion leads to only partial de-agglomeration of particles, causing surface defects. In contrast, excellent dispersion achieves de-agglomeration, minimizes surface defects, delivers strong color performance and minimizes deterioration of mechanical properties. Our BLACK PEARLS®, VULCAN® and ELFTEX® specialty carbon blacks exhibit favorable combinations of color strength and dispersibility.

Physical cleanliness

While dispersion is key to achieving a high level of surface smoothness, physical cleanliness, or elimination of physical contaminants within carbon blacks, is also critical to enabling high levels of surface quality and mechanical properties. The presence of physical contaminants, or ash and grit, can cause degradation of both aesthetic properties and mechanical properties. Our BLACK PEARLS® specialty carbon blacks feature high levels of cleanliness.

Our portfolio of high jetness specialty carbon blacks deliver exceptional color, high mechanical performance, and physical strength to be applied to various markets including food, molded parts, film and sheet, wire and cable, conductivity and ESD, and pipes.   

Introducing Black Pearls® 1180HD Our Newest Innovation in Specialty Carbon Black for Plastics