The circular economy is among the top three initiatives in terms of impact on sustainability, along with recycling of waste and end-of-life disposal.  Automotive companies and regulators are planning far reaching initiatives to align with the circular economy. 

One often associates carbon black with electrical conductivity, and the presence of carbon black in rubber insulating compounds has been regarded as detrimental in this aspect. But what if we need carbon black performance properties but also high electrical resistivity?

While industries and individuals are aligned in their goal to protect the planet for future generations, there still seems to be confusion on what the meaning of the commonly used phrases – eco-friendly, sustainable, and circular − and to understand their overall impact on our planet.  I will spend some time to untangle these three key words in order to pursue the most impactful approach.

Inkjet inks utilizing waterborne, solventborne, and energy curable chemistries have become popular in recent decades compared to more traditional analogue printing techniques due to the ability to print variable content, low ink usage, and versatility of substrate types and geometry. Compared to dyes, which have been used extensively, particularly in waterborne systems due to their solubility, pigments offer much better lightfastness, water/solvent resistance, holdout (especially on porous substrates), and color performance.

First commercialized in the early 1990s, lithium ion batteries have since come to be an integral part of modern life. Portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, laptops, and power tools, were the first to utilize this technology. In recent years, the push to electrify personal transportation has accelerated the production of electric vehicles. Conductive carbons are now further improving the performance of Lithium ion batteries.

There are many ways to add color and functionality to your plastic material. Printing, coating and plating methods are used to implement color and functionality on the surface of plastics. Jinhil Kim lays out 6 precautions when designing thermoplastic, PVC and polyutherane colorant formulations.

Conductive plastic compounds have a variety of applications including conductor and insulation shield for wire and cables, antistatic, electrostatic dissipation (ESD), electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield, and metal replacement.  This blog talks about the key properties of carbon black and how they are related to conductivity performance, especially as it relates to wire and cable applications.

One of the most promising bio-renewable reinforcements for rubber is a class of materials called nanocellulose. Nanocellulose in its various nanoscale forms constitutes the fundamental building blocks of biomass and can be derived from sources such as waste woodchips, agricultural and forest residues and purpose grown crops.

When qualifying a new carbon black in a new product or as a potential offset, it is critical to understand the Performance Triangle by looking at carbon black selection, formulation and dispersion.

Carbon blacks are frequently used in publication gravure inks and a specific product needs to be selected to meet the desired performance needs. Balancing the properties of a carbon black will deliver the required colour density, jetness, gloss and rheology. The carbon black portfolio of Birla Carbon has a range of products to meet different jetness and tonal needs.

Across a vast range of industries, rubber components play safety critical roles in activities every single day. As such, rubber components need to be durable and long lasting. While there are many ways in which a rubber component can fail in service, mechanical fatigue is probably the most common failure mechanism which affects nearly all rubber-based components.

Specially engineered carbon blacks can deliver the high level of blackness targeted in many engineering plastics applications. Let's look at the parameters you should consider to realize the full performance benefits with these very special carbon black pigments.

Specially engineered carbon blacks can deliver the high level of blackness targeted in many engineering plastics applications. Let's look at the parameters you should consider to realize the full performance benefits with these very special carbon black pigments.

Defining the targeted color space is an important first step in having meaningful discussions on changes to coatings formulations that will achieve the desired end result. If a customer says they want to be bluer in undertone, then the immediate question becomes bluer compared to what?

There are a lot of instruments involved in the measurement of deep black coatings. In this blog post, Dr. Richard Abbott provides insights on what measurements and specifications are used to receive accurate and precise measurements of black objects.

UV-curable inks and coatings are a high growth market for various industries such a printing ink, particularly for food packaging, floor coatings, and 3D printing. These materials offer high gloss, low/zero VOC (volatile organic compound), and many other advantages compared to other liquid chemistries.

Not all carbon blacks are created equal. That means you’ll need to tailor your compounding process, let-down ratio (LDR), drop-in, and other factors around the properties of the particular carbon black you’re using.

Most engineering plastics applications need a certain level of jetness. But that ideal level of jetness depends on a few interrelated factors, all of which are important for getting the jetness just right.

It’s crucial to choose the right carbon black to meet your needs — whether that’s color, conductivity, or both. But if you’re not seeing optimal performance in your coatings formulations, carbon black itself may not be the root problem.