Carbon black has many applications in plastics. Carbon black is typically dispersed into a plastic master batch concentrate at a high dosage, 15% to 50% by weight. Concentrate allows AGS Technology to utilize carbon black in a pre-dispersed pellet form allowing easy incorporation for the injection molding process. AGS Technology primarily uses carbon black concentrate as a pigment to help take a wide range of mixed colors regrind and transform it into a uniform black color.
In addition to making regrind a consistent black color, carbon black is inherently an excellent ultraviolet (UV) absorber. All materials absorb sunlight radiation and the most destructive frequencies for plastics are those at the higher UV range of the spectrum. Absorbed UV light shortens molecular chains of polymer materials. This process is called photo degradation and it leads to loss of mechanical properties and/or discoloration, cracking, fading, and chalking. In order to protect outdoor plastic products from the damaging UV light, the plastic needs to be shielded from these harmful rays. Carbon black absorbs the damaging UV light and transform the energy of the rays into heat which is dissipated harmlessly throughout the product. As a result, AGS Technology also uses carbon black in its formulations to protect parts susceptible to UV degradation and weathering.