Many rubber products where tensile and abrasion properties are crucial use carbon black. Adjustments in type or quantity can affect these properties as well as hardness, tear strength, and electrical conductivity, to name a few.

Testing for carbon black is typically performed during formula investigations and reconstructions or as a quality control. Testing can include identification of the type or family a carbon black belongs to as well as simply the amount of carbon black used within a given material or compound. Smithers utilizes two common techniques to analyze materials containing carbon black (below) at our rubber testing laboratories.

TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis) - Thermogravimetric analysis is a technique which measures changes in mass of materials as temperature is increased over time. Changes in weight are monitored throughout the test to provide data on the categories of materials in the compound.

TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) - Transmission Electron Microscopy is a technique that transmits electrons through a thin material sample.  The electrons react with the material to create a very high resolution image allowing researchers to observe chemical makeup.

Common Standards

ASTM D1508

Standard Test Method for Carbon Black, Pelleted Fines and Attrition

ASTM D1510

Standard Test Method for Carbon Black—Iodine Adsorption Number

ASTM D1514

Standard Test Method for Carbon Black—Sieve Residue

ASTM D2414

Standard Test Method for Carbon Black—Oil Absorption Number (OAN)

ASTM D6556

Standard Test Method for Carbon Black—Total and External Surface Area by Nitrogen Adsorption

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