Carbon Black is a near universal material that has broad industrial application. It is used as an abrasion-resistant filler in the manufacture of tires and other rubber materials. Carbon black is also used as a pigment in coatings and lacquers, plastics, printing inks and tinting blacks.
Since the particle size distribution (PSD) of aggregates of carbon black is strongly correlated with the thermal and mechanical properties of dispersions, the measurement of a carbon black PSD is very useful for quality control.
The typical size range for non-agglomerated carbon black is from 10 nm to 500 nm. While a sample can be unimodal, the typical carbon black PSD is broad.
Given the small sizes involved and the breadth of a typical distribution, a disc centrifuge photosedimentometer (DCP) has been the instrument of choice for more than 50 years. It is a rugged instrument, the theory of which is well developed. The accuracy and high-resolution capability make this a valuable industrial tool.
The Brookhaven Instruments BI‑DCP (Disc Centrifuge Photosedimentometer) is a Differential Centrifugal Sedimentation instrument designed for high‑resolution particle sizing in complex mixtures. It uses photosedimentation — particles sediment in a spinning disc, and their size is determined by the time they take to reach the detector, according to Stokes’ law. It yields high-resolution results in the size range from 0.01 to 30 microns with typical analysis times ranging from 5 to 30 minutes.
Brookhaven Instruments is renowned for light scattering instruments dedicated to sub-micron particle sizing and polymer characterization. Having identified the need to produce high resolution in the 1-micron size range, Brookhaven has produced an instrument with a resolution unmatched by any other technique in this range. Sedimentation is intrinsically a fractionation technique and the BI-DCP Particle Size Analyzer provides a means to separate the components of mixtures, including carbon black.
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