Many friends know that white silica powder has a common name called white carbon black, but do you know the reason for this name?
People had mastered the technology of burning smoke and making ink over 3000 years ago, but the development of carbon black production technology has been slow for a long time. It was not until 1872 that the world first saw the large-scale production of carbon black industry, and the term "CarbonBlack" emerged, which was the beginning of modern carbon black industry. In 1912, Mottee, a British man, discovered the reinforcing effect of carbon black on rubber, especially after significantly improving the wear resistance of tires. Since then, the demand for carbon black has rapidly increased and gradually become an indispensable raw material in the rubber industry.
During World War I, due to the shortage of energy materials for producing carbon black, Germany began to use white silica produced by precipitation method to replace carbon black, and the white amorphous silica was named white carbon black due to its similar physical properties and uses to carbon black. Later on, due to the rapid development of the automobile and transportation industry, the increase in the price of raw materials for carbon black production, and the requirements for energy conservation and emission reduction, white carbon black became a leading reinforcing material in the rubber industry. At present, white carbon black can completely replace carbon black for reinforcement in colored rubber products, meeting the needs of white or semi transparent products.
Nowadays, what we refer to as white carbon black is no longer just a substitute for carbon black in rubber formulations, but a general term for a type of amorphous white ultrafine powder of silica and silicate, which has a wide range of applications. Depending on the preparation route, it can be mainly divided into two categories: precipitated silica and fumed silica.