White carbon black: the "hidden champion" from traditional industry to new energy field

In the field of inorganic non-metallic materials, white carbon black (silica) is quietly rising as the "invisible champion". This seemingly ordinary white powder, with its porous structure, high specific surface area, and excellent chemical stability, has demonstrated irreplaceable value in both traditional industry and new energy fields. From tire manufacturing to lithium battery separators, from environmental protection to biomedicine, white carbon black is becoming a key material to promote industrial upgrading.


1、 The 'Green Revolution' of Traditional Industries
The application of white carbon black in the rubber industry has been decades of history, but its role is changing from "supporting role" to "leading role". In the field of tire manufacturing, the composite use of highly dispersed precipitated white carbon black and silane coupling agent has become the core technology of "green tires". By reducing the hysteresis loss of the tread rubber, white carbon black can reduce rolling resistance by about 30% while maintaining wet skid resistance, resulting in a 3% -5% increase in fuel efficiency. Taking passenger car tires as an example, if the global tire market fully adopts white carbon black reinforcement technology, it can reduce tens of millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is equivalent to the carbon sequestration effect of planting hundreds of millions of trees.


In the coatings industry, the extinction performance of white carbon black is driving the development of environmentally friendly coatings. Its refractive index, which is similar to that of resin, makes it the preferred matting agent for high-end water-based wood coatings. In the adhesive for wind turbine blades, hydrophobic modified gas-phase white carbon black effectively solves the problems of easy settling and poor thixotropy of traditional materials by constructing a three-dimensional network structure, ensuring the structural stability of the blades under extreme weather conditions.


2、 The 'New Blue Ocean' in the field of new energy
With the acceleration of global energy transition, the application of white carbon black in the field of new energy is showing explosive growth. In the field of lithium batteries, ML150 gas-phase white carbon black has become a key material for improving battery performance due to its specific surface area of 150m ²/g and pore size of 3-5nm. As a carrier for negative electrode active materials, ML150 can provide a large number of lithium ion insertion sites, increasing battery energy density by 10% -15%; Its unique pore structure can also suppress electrode expansion and extend cycle life by more than 20%. At present, this material has been applied to high-end product lines such as Tesla 4680 batteries and CATL Kirin batteries.


In the field of hydrogen energy, the porous structure of white carbon black provides an ideal platform for catalyst carriers. By loading platinum based catalysts, white carbon black can significantly improve the proton exchange efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells and reduce the amount of precious metals by more than 30%. In addition, its high temperature resistance (able to withstand temperatures above 800 ℃) makes it the preferred membrane material for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs).


3、 Technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading
Faced with the strict requirements for the performance of white carbon black in the high-end market, domestic enterprises are breaking through through through technological innovation. The "rice husk ash extraction white carbon black" technology developed by Quecheng Corporation converts agricultural waste into high-purity silica, reducing raw material costs by 30% and carbon emissions by 40%; The nano silica synthesized by LinkedIn Technology through the sol gel method has a specific surface area of more than 300m ²/g, reaching the international leading level; Huifu Nano focuses on the surface modification technology of gas-phase white carbon black, which improves the compatibility between the material and organic systems by more than 50% through amino silane grafting treatment.


At the policy level, the "Action Plan for High Quality Development of Inorganic Silicon Materials" released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly states that by 2026, the self-sufficiency rate of high-end white carbon black will be increased to 50%, and the energy consumption per unit output value will be reduced by 20%. In provinces such as Zhejiang and Shandong, a preferential policy of 15% income tax reduction is given to enterprises with R&D investment exceeding 5%, further stimulating their innovation vitality.


4、 Future prospects
With the deepening of the "dual carbon" target, the white carbon black industry will undergo structural changes. On the one hand, the demand in the traditional rubber field will continue to grow, but the driving force for growth will shift from "quantity" to "quality" - high dispersibility and low rolling resistance products will become mainstream; On the other hand, the proportion of high-end fields such as new energy and semiconductors will rapidly increase. It is expected that by 2030, the market size of white carbon black for lithium battery separator coatings will exceed 5 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 25%.


In this industrial upgrading, enterprises with a full industry chain layout, technological research and development capabilities, and green production capabilities will stand out. Taking Quecheng Group as an example, its vertical integration model from quartz sand mining to terminal product manufacturing not only ensures the stability of raw material quality, but also reduces comprehensive costs by more than 15% through a circular economy model. In the future, with the popularization of intelligent manufacturing and digital technology, the concentration of the white carbon black industry will further increase, and top enterprises are expected to occupy a larger share in the global market through technological positioning and economies of scale.


From traditional industries to the field of new energy, white carbon black is writing a new chapter in materials science with the posture of an "invisible champion". In this green revolution, Chinese enterprises have taken the lead, contributing the "Chinese solution" to global sustainable development through technological innovation and industrial upgrading.