1808. Carbon, Amorphous

Nomenclature

Carbon black; activated carbon; decolorizing carbon.

Description and references

A quasi-graphitic form of carbon of small particle size. By the term “carbon black” several forms of artificially prepared carbon or charcoal are designated, e.g.: (1) Animal charcoal, obtained by charring bones, meat, blood, etc.; (2) Gas black; furnace black; channel black; C.I. 77266, obtained by incomplete combustion of natural gas; (3) Lamp black, obtained by burning various fats, oils, resins, etc., under suitable conditions; (4) Activated charcoal, e.g. Carbomix, Carboraffin, Medicoal, Norit, Opocarbyl, Ultracarbon, prepd from wood and vegetables. Monograph: H. W. Davidson et al., Manufactured Carbon (Pergamon Press, New York, 1968). Reviews: Cohan in Science of Petroleum vol. V, Pt 2, B. T. Brooks, A. E. Dunstan, Eds. (Oxford Univ. Press, 1953), pp 79-89; Smisek, Cerny, Active Carbon (Elsevier Publishing Co., Amsterdam, 1970).

Caution

Potential symptoms of overexposure are cough; eye irritation. Potential occupational carcinogen in the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. See NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (DHHS/NIOSH 97-140, 1997) p 52.

Use

Pigment for rubber tires; for printing, stenciling and drawing inks; for leather; stove polish, phonograph records, electrical insulating apparatus. Activated charcoal for clarifying, deodorizing, decolorizing and filtering. As a color additive in foods and cosmetics.

Therapeutic Category

Activated charcoal as antidote; adsorptive.

Therapeutic Category (Veterinary)

Internally as an adsorptive in diarrhea; externally in foul wounds.