White carbon black: the "environmental pioneer" in the era of green manufacturing

Driven by the global "dual carbon" goal, green manufacturing has become a core proposition for industrial development. As a representative of inorganic non-metallic materials, white carbon black (silicon dioxide) is leaping from a traditional industrial supporting role to an "environmental pioneer" in the green manufacturing era by virtue of its recyclability, low energy consumption and high performance. From raw material substitution to process innovation, from product upgrading to circular economy, white carbon black is writing a green revolution in materials science.


1、 Raw material revolution: from "non renewable" to "turning waste into treasure"
The traditional production of white carbon black relies on non renewable mineral resources such as quartz sand and soda ash, and the mining process is accompanied by high energy consumption and ecological damage. The new generation of technology has achieved the green transformation of raw materials through the "resource utilization of agricultural waste" and "reuse of industrial by-products".


Rice husk ash extraction technology: The integrated process of "rice husk ash white carbon black" developed by Quecheng Corporation purifies the ash content (containing over 90% SiO ₂) of rice husks after combustion through acid leaching, precipitation and other steps to prepare high-purity white carbon black. This technology not only solves the problem of air pollution caused by rice husk incineration, but also reduces raw material costs by 30% and carbon footprint by 40% compared to traditional quartz sand routes. At present, this process has been widely applied in Jiangsu, Anhui and other places, with an annual processing capacity of over 500000 tons of rice husks, equivalent to reducing deforestation by 200000 cubic meters.


Industrial by-product utilization: Lianke Technology has developed a "waste residue white carbon black" recycling process by recovering the waste residue from the production process of sodium silicate. This technology increases the recovery rate of silicon element in waste residue to 95%, while producing high-purity sodium carbonate as a byproduct, achieving "zero waste" production. In a chemical industrial park in Shandong, this process has been applied to a 100000 ton/year white carbon black production line, reducing solid waste emissions by 120000 tons annually and saving raw material costs of 80 million yuan.


2、 Technological Innovation: From "High Energy Consumption" to "Low Carbon"
The traditional production of white carbon black (such as precipitation method and gas-phase method) has problems such as high energy consumption and large emissions. For example, the production energy consumption of gas-phase white carbon black can reach up to 10000 kWh/ton, and the carbon dioxide emissions can reach 5 tons/ton. The new generation of green technology has significantly reduced its environmental impact through technological innovation.


Sol gel method: high purity white carbon black can be synthesized at low temperature (<100 ℃) by controlling hydrolysis polycondensation reaction conditions. This method avoids the high-temperature calcination step, reduces energy consumption by 40% compared to traditional precipitation methods, and the product particle size is uniform (PDI<0.2), with a specific surface area of over 300m ²/g. At present, this technology has been applied to the production of electronic grade white carbon black, with a product purity of 99.99%, meeting the requirements of semiconductor packaging.


Microwave assisted synthesis: By utilizing the rapid heating characteristics of microwaves, the reaction time can be shortened from 10 hours to 1 hour, while reducing energy consumption by 30%. In the production of gas-phase white carbon black, microwave-assisted technology increases the hydrolysis efficiency of silicon tetrachloride (SiCl ₄) by 50%, and reduces the chloride ion content in the exhaust gas from 1000ppm to below 50ppm, significantly reducing pollution control costs.


Plasma enhanced CVD: By activating the reaction gas with plasma, high-purity white carbon black thin films can be deposited at low temperatures (200-300 ℃). This technology avoids the high temperature (800-1000 ℃) conditions of traditional CVD methods, reduces energy consumption by 70%, and has higher product purity (metal impurities<1 ppb), making it suitable for high-end fields such as photovoltaic film and quantum dot display.


3、 Product Upgrade: From "Single Function" to "Multi Scene Adaptation"
Green manufacturing not only requires low-carbon production processes, but also emphasizes the environmental performance of products throughout their entire lifecycle. The new generation of white carbon black has achieved a leap from "single reinforcing agent" to "multi scenario adaptation" through functional modification.


Biobased white carbon black: By grafting biobased molecules such as starch and cellulose onto the surface of white carbon black, its compatibility with natural rubber can be improved. In tire manufacturing, bio based white carbon black can reduce rolling resistance by 20% and reduce reliance on petroleum based coupling agents. In Michelin's latest "Green Tire" release, the use of bio based white carbon black has reached 30% and is expected to increase to 50% by 2025.


Degradable white carbon black composite material: By blending white carbon black with biodegradable polymers such as polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), high-performance biobased materials can be prepared. In the field of food packaging, the tensile strength of this composite material can reach 50MPa, the oxygen permeability is less than 10cm ³/(m ² · 24h · 0.1MPa), and it can be completely degraded in soil within 180 days. At present, this material has been applied to biodegradable meal boxes of fast food brands such as Starbucks and McDonald's, with an annual replacement of over 100000 tons of plastic.


Photocatalytic white carbon black: By loading titanium dioxide (TiO ₂) or carbon nitride (g-C ∝ N ₄), white carbon black can be endowed with self-cleaning and air purification functions. In architectural coatings, adding 5% photocatalytic white carbon black coating can decompose harmful substances such as formaldehyde and benzene under light, with a degradation efficiency of over 90%. In an office building in Guangzhou, the coating reduced the indoor formaldehyde concentration from 0.2mg/m ³ to 0.03mg/m ³, meeting international health standards.


4、 Circular Economy: From "Linear Economy" to "Closed loop Ecology"
The green value of white carbon black is not only reflected in the production and use process, but also in its full lifecycle recycling. By constructing a closed-loop system of "production use recycling regeneration", white carbon black is driving the industry towards the goal of zero waste.


Tire recycling: White carbon black in waste tires can be recovered through thermal cracking technology. Under a nitrogen atmosphere at 450 ℃, the rubber in the tire decomposes into oil and gas, while white carbon black and carbon black remain in the solid residue. Through acid washing, magnetic separation and other steps, white carbon black with a purity of>90% can be separated and reused in the production of low-end rubber products. At present, this technology has been widely applied in countries such as Germany and Japan, with a recovery rate of 80% and a cost reduction of 40% compared to native white carbon black.


Lithium battery recycling: In retired power batteries, white carbon black mainly exists in the positive electrode binder and separator coating. By combining wet metallurgy with physical separation, over 95% of white carbon black can be recovered and purified to electronic grade standards (purity>99.9%). The recycled white carbon black can be used for the production of new batteries, forming a closed-loop cycle of "battery recycling battery". According to calculations, recycling a 1GWh power battery can produce 200 tons of white carbon black, which is equivalent to reducing quartz sand mining by 1000 tons.


Industrial wastewater treatment: White carbon black can be used as an adsorbent and flocculant in wastewater treatment. Its high specific surface area (>200m ²/g) and surface hydroxyl groups can efficiently adsorb heavy metal ions (such as Pb ² ⁺, Cd ² ⁺) and organic pollutants. In the treatment of electroplating wastewater, adding 10g/L white carbon black can reduce the lead ion concentration from 500mg/L to below 0.5mg/L, meeting the discharge standards. The processed white carbon black can be regenerated by acid washing and reused more than 5 times, significantly reducing processing costs.


5、 Future prospects
With the deepening of the "dual carbon" target, the green value of white carbon black will be further highlighted. It is predicted that by 2030, the global market size of green white carbon black will exceed 5 billion US dollars, with a compound annual growth rate of 12%. In the future, the industry will present three major trends: firstly, diversification of raw materials, with agricultural waste, industrial by-products, and carbon dioxide capture and utilization becoming mainstream; The second is low-carbon technology, and green technologies such as microwave and plasma will replace traditional high-energy consumption processes; The third is product functionalization, which will promote the deep application of white carbon black in new energy, environmental protection, medical and other fields due to its photocatalytic, bio based, biodegradable and other characteristics.


In this green revolution, China has taken the lead. Through policy guidance (such as the "14th Five Year Plan" for the development of raw material industry, which explicitly supports green manufacturing of white carbon black), technological innovation (such as the rice husk ash extraction technology of Quecheng Corporation), and industrial chain collaboration (such as cooperation between tire enterprises and recycling enterprises), China is moving from a white carbon black producing country to a technological powerhouse. In the future, with the explosive demand for low-carbon materials worldwide, China's white carbon black industry is expected to become a benchmark for green manufacturing and contribute the "Chinese solution" to global sustainable development.